Contact
by xAirashii
Summary: Cloud is only 15 years old when his mother is killed in a fire and he is forced to go live with his mother's cousin in Gongaga, where he is picked on mercilessly by the other children. Except one: Zack Fair. Zack/Cloud Rated M for future chaps MORE INSIDE
1. Prologue

Hey there! Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking, "…The hell is she doing writing another fanfiction…? Everyone knows she doesn't finish them!!". Well, you can just shove it. I was young and naïve back when I was writing those Fruits Basket fanfictions and had absolutely **no idea** how to write an actual story. So I gave up for about…I dunno… Three years. But, the point is, I'm back now with a **NEW** fanfiction called **Contact**, and it's actually plotted out so I don't plan on quitting on this one at all, so don't worry your pretty little heads. :)

**Summary:** Cloud is only fifteen years old and has to move away to his mother's cousin's house when she gets killed in a fire. Cloud is the new kid in town and is terribly shy; two things that don't mix well when you're starting a new life. When Cloud is picked on mercilessly, will anyone come to his rescue or will he just have to accept the fact that no one ever will?

Anyways, I guess I have to warn you guys about what's to come, no?

**WARNING! This story contains explicit content not meant for younger readers, such as: **

**-Adult language**

**-Sexual/Adult situations**

**-Yaoi/Boy love/ Gay love/ Etcetera **

**-Torture**

**-Horrible writing skills**

**I will set a warning at the beginning of the chapter if there is any of content of this sort in it, so do not complain. If you do not like it, do not read it. Thank you. **

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

Now that all the legal stuff is out of the way, here's the prologue!

**Contact-Prologue**

_The heat. The unbearable heat. Flames. Fire. It's surrounding me, suffocating me._

_Where is it all coming from?_

_Where am I?_

_Where's Mom?_

_I can't breathe…What's going on?! _

_Why can't I breathe? See? Think?!_

_MOM!! Where are you?! _

Cloud cried out and bolted upwards, his breathing labored and his face covered in sweat. "…Wh-What the hell is going on…?" He breathed as he wiped some of the sweat from his brow, still shaking from his nightmare.

The blonde gazed over at the digital clock on the table beside his bed.

11:58 AM.

_Mom's gonna kill me._ He chided, trying to get out of his nightmare-induced stupor.

He swung his legs over the side of his small, single-person bed and let out a shaky breath.

"Was... That the same dream…?" He muttered under his breath. Cloud slowly rose up from the bed and trudged into his bathroom across room.

It used to be his father and mother's room, which is why it had a bathroom, and was probably the largest bedroom in the entire house.

His mother moved out of that room and gave it to Cloud; the memories of her husband too painful for her to bear.

His father had been killed eight years ago; someone had broken into their home at night, and, wanting to protect his family, his father threw himself at the robber while Cloud and his mother escaped.

He was only seven years old at that time and has lived alone with his mother since then up until now.

Cloud's father's death was hard for the both of them; things between Cloud and his mother were tense whenever either one of them, or anyone else for that matter, mentioned Mr. Strife.

But soon after his father was gone, Cloud became even closer to his mother, almost never leaving her side for the fear of losing her as well.

Now, never getting over that fear, Cloud is still protective of his mother at the age of fifteen. No one could come within ten feet of her when he was around, which he always was, of course, without receiving a glare from the blonde in their direction.

Cloud closed the bathroom door behind him, but didn't lock it; he never did, "Just incase someone broke into our house and…"

Well, he didn't even want to think of that.

Cloud looked in the small, smeared mirror and grimaced when he saw the reflection gazing back at him.

He'd been having that same dream over and over again for the past week, never allowing him to get any proper sleep, and his appearance had suffered because of it.

He poked and prodded at the dark bags under his eyes that were there due to sleep deprivation. His hair was a total mess; it resembled a chocobo that had just had its feathers blow-dried and not brushed or been washed. Yuck.

His normally honey-colored skin was pale, almost pasty, and he could swear he saw a zit forming on his chin.

He gave his reflection one last frown before turning on the water in the shower, stripping down, and jumping into the tub-slash-shower. The blonde let the heat and pressure of the water take him away to a world where he didn't have to worry, where he didn't fear everything in the world. Showers were his only vice, his only way of relaxation.

Cloud closed his eyes that were heavy with lack of sleep and exhaustion and let the water hit his back.

_What is with that dream? Why do I keep having it every single night?_

_I don't know what it is…But I have a bad feeling about it…_

He sighed and turned around so that he faced the wall.

_Maybe I should take Mom away; we could go on vacation, or something._

_Yeah…A vacation…That's what we need…A vacation…_

He smiled and rested his head against the shower wall, not caring that the water had run cold already.

_Wait till I tell Mom that we'll be going on a--_

His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a shriek followed by a loud clatter came from downstairs. Cloud's eyes flipped open and immediately one thing came to his mind.

"_**MOM!!"**_

He cried out and jumped out of the shower, not bothering to turn the water off.

His mother's safety was the most important thing at that moment; he could worry about the water bill later. The blonde grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his lithe waist and sprinted towards the staircase.

There was fire.

Everywhere.

He couldn't breathe.

Couldn't see.

Couldn't think.

Cloud coughed and winced when the smoke filled his lungs and the sound of an alarm went off, hurting his ears.

Why was it so loud?

He couldn't hear or see his mother. Where was she?

He ran blindly into the smog, "Mom! Where are you?! Can you hear me--", he yelled out when the blonde tripped on something.

Cloud cried out in pain when he realized he had twisted his ankle and pulled his leg up to his chest. Suddenly, he realized what he tripped on.

His mother.

Cloud's eyes went wide and tried to reach out to her, when he heard a sudden loud crackle. Wood splitting. Wood burning. Wood falling. The blonde slowly shook his head, tears pooling in his soft, blue eyes, realizing what was happening.

Another crack was heard.

A single tear fell down his cheek as a mass of burning wood fell down.

Down, towards his mother, who was most likely still alive, just unconcious, on the floor.

"MAMA!!", he cried out like a child when the blazing lumber fell down on to his mother and covered her in the deadly flames.

His mother.

His**mother**.

The woman who loved him regardless, even when no one else would so much as look at him.

Tears streaked down his cheeks, one after another.

_Is this really happening? No._

_No. It can't be._

_It's just a dream._

_It's just a dream._

_The same dream from last night and the night before, and every night before that._

_It's just a dream._

"**IT'S JUST A DREAM, DAMMIT!!"**, he yelled out, tears still spilling down his cheeks.

The blonde stayed there for a moment, crying tears of sorrow, anger, shock, and overall, sadness. He couldn't--_wouldn't_-- believe this was happening.

Cloud slowly rose to his feet, despite how much physical, and emotional, pain it caused him to leave his home ablaze like that.

The blonde slowly turned his still wet head as he came out of the burning building he once called "home" and cried silently to himself when he heard doors slamming and people's voices.

_Gods_, how he hated them.

All of them.

They did nothing for him, only teased him, mocked him, hated him.

The only one of his neighbors he didn't hate was Mrs. Johnson.

She was always friendly towards him; she gave him cookies when he was younger and always offered a warm smile when he walked by.

He wandered over to his neighbor's house, where he noticed everyone was already standing outside in their yards, staring, just_ staring_, at his home going up in flames.

Mrs. Johnson gave him a small smile and wrapped her arms around his still bare shoulders in a warm embrace, showing him that she's there for him if he was ever in a pinch.

She covered him in a blanket and walked him into her home, where she called the police and had them and the firemen all come down to put the fire out.

"It'll be alright, Cloud...Just keep your chin up, and never give up." she told him, pulling him into another hug.

Cloud hesitantly returned it as a few last tears trailed down his pale cheeks.

She allowed him to stay at her house that night until the next morning when he would call the only family he had: his mother's cousin, Sephiroth.

His elderly neighbor offered him a warm dinner that night, telling him stories about her childhood at the dinner table.

Even though he found this a bit endearing, Cloud also found it boring. He sighed while she was still in the middle of telling him about the time where she and her friends got stuck in a well...Or something along those lines...He wasn't really paying attention. All he wanted to do was go to sleep and forget that anything ever happened.

Mrs. Johnson must have understood what this gesture meant; she set up a spot on the couch for Cloud to sleep until tomorrow and sat him down.

Cloud got under the blanket that she had given him and sighed.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Mrs. Johnson leaned back into the couch when Cloud was about to fall asleep, and whispered to him, "…I'm so sorry, Cloud…I know how you feel…"

No.

No one had any idea how he felt.

Watching your own mother die and not being able to do _anything_ about it.

A piece of him died along with her and he frowned at Mrs. "Diana" Johnson.

"You…You will **never** understand how I feel." He said coldly.

He instantly felt guilty when the words left his mouth. Mrs. Johnson had been so kind to him, and he just mouthed off to her.

_Not cool, Cloud. Not cool._

_Whatever. I have every damned right to act like this._ He thought to himself.

Diana Johnson just smiled a soft, saddened smile and got up from the couch where Cloud was now staring up at her.

"You never know, Cloud." She said softly and walked out of the room, turning off the light as she left.

_Tomorrow, then._ Cloud thought as he closed his eyes and snuggled up with the scratchy blanket on the lumpy old sofa.

_Tomorrow, I leave for Gongaga._

--

Mwahaha, cliff hanger, oh yes!

Well, how'd you like it?

Yeah, I know it was pretty short, but it's just the prologue!! There's a helluva lot more to come, let me tell ya.

Actually, I most likely wouldn't have written this if it weren't for my friend **LadyUzumaki** pushing me to do it!

So, if you liked this chapter, go thank her! And while you're doing so, check out her fanfictions. They are Naruto/Sasuke, not Zack/Cloud, but they're still awesome!

Hell, I don't usually even watch Naruto, but I still love her fanfictions, so that has to say something, right?

Ha ha, well I'm out. Reviews are appreciated; they give me that extra **BOOST!** to write another chapter.

(Not that I'm not already getting started on the next one! I told you, I've started this, now I'm going to **finish it**.)

Well, enough of my ramblings.

Go review! Now!!

Please…? -Puppy eyes-


	2. A New Beginning

Heya people

Heya people! :) I'm back with the first _actual _chapter of my new fanfiction, **Contact**! –Does happy dance- Ahh, it feels great to be back in the fanfic-writing world. Anyways, on with the chapter!

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

And awayyy we go!

**Chapter One- A New Beginning**

"_Cloud…"_

_M-Mama? Is that you?_

"_Cloud…"_

_Mom?! Are you there? I can't see you—where am I?_

"_Cloudy, baby, you have to wake up."_

He felt someone's arms wrap around him in a warm embrace.

_Wake up…? I'm dreaming…? But you feel so real, Mom. I don't want to wake up…_

"_Cloud..! CLOUD!!"_

Cloud's eyes flung open and gasped when he awoke from his dream; someone was shaking him by his shoulders. He shook his head, his blonde spikes flying around every which way, and looked around to see tired mahogany eyes looking back at him.

"Cloud, hun, I think you were having a nightmare." Mrs. Johnson said softly with a smile. _Why is she always smiling? She has nothing to smile for…Her husband and son died years ago in a car accident, she was all alone, and she definitely wasn't rich; what was she smiling about?_ Cloud pondered as he sat up on the couch.

Cloud stared up at her as she slowly got off the couch and headed for the kitchen, "Well, I guess I should get you some breakfast, huh?" she called from the small kitchen. "I hope you like waffles. Who am I kidding? Everyone loves waffles!... I know my Robbie did…" the widow called, but she said the last part almost too softly for Cloud to hear in the other room.

He blinked and trailed his lithe fingers through a few of his messy blonde spikes, trying to get them out of their current flattened state. He sighed heavily and sat all the way up on the couch, with his elbows resting on his knees and his head placed in his hands. Cloud looked around without moving his head, observing everything in the small living room he was staying in.

The room was cozy, organized, and inviting, like one of the homes you see in those furniture catalogues that always mysteriously show up in your mailboxes (even though you aren't even subscribed to the magazine). There was a small fireplace in the corner of the room, which Cloud imagined was where Mr. and Mrs. Johnson would sit and cuddle during the winter season. To the right of it was a nice sized flat screen television, _Fancy, fancy,_ Cloud smirked to himself.

He also noticed all the furniture matched, unlike in his home, where everything is—or rather, _was_, uncoordinated. The Strife's hardly ever had company anymore, ever since the death of Cloud's father, so why would they need to decorate their home appropriately? Who would it impress? Barely anyone had ever even _seen_ the inside of their home, let alone cared about what it looked like.

Cloud frowned as he thought about his home, _It's gone…She's gone…I…I'm gone;_ he clamped his eyelids tightly together, trying to keep the tears from overflowing. _Why does everything happen to __**me**__?_ He questioned himself, _Why, why, why—_

"Blueberries?"

"…B-Blueberries?"

"Yes, blueberries. Would you like blueberries on your waffles, Cloud?" Diana asked, her head poked around the corner of the kitchen wall. Cloud blinked as he realized she was expecting him to answer her question.

She blinked a few times, waiting for his response. "Uh…Umm…Yeah. Sure… Blueberries would be nice…" Cloud said softly, trying not to meet her expectant eyes.

"Okay, blueberry waffles for two, coming right up." She laughed softly, "My, oh, my, it's been a while since I've been able to say that." Diana gave Cloud one last sad smile before walking back into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

_Poor woman…I actually feel sorry for her…_Cloud frowned and finally got up from the couch to start packing his things, or at least, what's left of the things he could manage to find in the rubble the night before.

An old picture of him, his mother, and his father when they went on vacation to Costa Del Sol. Cloud's eyes watered as he looked at himself in the picture; he was so young, so happy, so…Completely unaware of the dangers in the world. Blissfully unaware, that's what he was.

He also managed to save a few pieces of his mother's jewelry and a small, metal safe with a little bit of his mother's "Rainy Day Money" in it. This would at least be enough money to get a ride to Gongaga and maybe something to eat along the way.

Once he was there, he would have to get a job, though, and he really wasn't looking forward to that one bit; he'd never worked a day in his life!

But, he also couldn't just mooch off Sephiroth for the rest of his life, either, so he thought it would be for the best.

The blonde got off the sofa and wandered over to the kitchen doorway, where he saw Diana having trouble keeping ten or twelve waffles on one plate, which he assumed was his, without the giant stack toppling over.

"Umm…Mrs. Johnson, I think I should probably call my mother's cousin now…To confirm that I'm staying there." Cloud mumbled.

"Oh, okay, sweetie, the phone's in my room on the bedside table. Take as long as you need, hun." She smiled sweetly while still trying to tame the stack of waffles that defied her and almost fell off the plate. "Breakfast will be ready soon, though, so I hope you're hungry, hun!" The elderly woman called after Cloud when he was halfway down the hall.

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Cloud found her room, which was small, but was very cozy and had a nice country theme to it; it reminded him of his grandmother's house, before she passed away.

He found the bedside table and picked up the old fashioned phone and dialed Sephiroth's number.

_Riiing…Riiing…Riiing…_

"Come on, Seph, pick up…" Cloud whispered to himself as the phone rang.

_Riiing…Riii- _"Hello?" A strong, masculine voice answered before the ringing stopped.

"Hello, is this Sephiroth?" The blonde asked, hoping he got the number correct.

"Yes, this is he. Who is this?" The voice on the other end said.

"Umm…This is Cloud—"

"Cloud?"

"Yes…I'm Cloud." He answered, hoping that Sephiroth remembered him. It **had** been over eight years since they've seen each other, after all.

"Ah, Cloud. Yes, what is it? How is Terra?"

"…" Cloud was silent at the mention of his mother's name.

"…Cloud? Hello?"

"…That's…Kind of what I need to talk to you about…My mother…She's…"

There was a deathly silence between the two, Cloud knew that Sephiroth probably knew what he was going to say next.

"…She is…dead…?" Sephiroth whispered sadly.

"…Yes." Cloud choked out, a lump suddenly growing in his throat. There was another silence, neither of them knowing what to say.

Finally Sephiroth spoke up, "…Cloud...Is there anything I can do for you?" The blonde sighed and whispered, "I…I need a place to stay. If it isn't a problem for you, do you think…I could possibly…" Cloud mumbled; he wasn't used to asking for many favors, and he wasn't about to start, either.

"Stay here?" Sephiroth finished the sentence for him, since the blonde was obviously having trouble asking. Cloud nodded and remembering that Sephiroth couldn't see it through the phone he muttered, "Yes…I would work for my keep, though; pay rent, I mean." Another silence, "Alright, Cloud. You can stay here, but you will have to get a job when you get here. I'm sorry, but it would be the only way I could afford to keep you here." Sephiroth answered softly.

"It's fine. Having a place to stay is worth getting a job." Cloud said, though he didn't really want to have to work. "It certainly is, Cloud." Sephiroth chuckled, "Well, I should be going, then, Cloud. When will you be arriving?" the man asked. "I will leave today and will most likely get there tonight or tomorrow morning." The blonde confirmed, twirling the phone cord in his fingers. "Alright. I'll be here." Sephiroth answered, nodding his head on the other line.

"Sephiroth…?"

"What is it?"

"…Thank you…So much." Cloud said sadly.

"You're welcome, Cloud." And with that, the older man hung up the phone, with Cloud standing with the phone still to his ear and tears running down his cheeks.

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Cloud was sitting on the large, quilted bed when Mrs. Johnson knocked on the door, "Cloud, hun, your waffles have been ready for a few minutes. I would hate for them to get cold, so if you're done in here, you should come and get 'em." She said softly through the still closed door. There was a brief silence before Cloud could hear her Diana's footsteps start back up then get quiet as she walked away from the door and down the hall.

The blonde stayed on the bed for a few moments longer then decided to get up and go eat breakfast. He trudged down the long hallway until he got to the dining room, where a gigantic pile of about fifteen waffles sat tall on a plate at the table was sitting.

_She really goes all out, doesn't she?_ Cloud smiled a little and sat down, about to dig in to the mountain of waffles when Mrs. Johnson came over and sat with him, a wooden box in her hands. The blonde swallowed a bite of waffles and looked over at her, "…What's that?" his curiosity getting the better of him.

After a few moments of silence she finally answered, "This…Was my husband's most prized possession…" she whispered and opened the box. The elderly brunette smiled softly and showed the contents of the box to Cloud: a necklace.

Mrs. Johnson kept smiling as she put the necklace around Cloud's neck, and smiled even more when she saw that it fit him perfectly. Not too big, not too small; it was just right.

She admired how it looked on the blonde: the silver pendant resting about an inch below his collarbone had a blue crystal embedded in the middle of it that complimented Cloud's own baby blue eyes.

Cloud held the pendant between his thumb and index finger, gently smoothing his thumb back and forth over the blue crystal. He looked up at Diana in confusion, "Why are you giving me this?" he muttered and looked back down to the pendant.

Diana just smiled and put her hand on the blonde's shoulder as a single tear fell down her pale, wrinkled cheek, "Because you need it, Cloud." She said and wiped the tears from her eyes, "You need it…More than I do."

Mrs. Johnson smiled for a little longer before walking out of the room, leaving Cloud to wonder what she had meant exactly.

"I called a transportation service for you, Cloud. It's almost noon now, and the man said he would be here with his truck at around twelve thirty, so I think you should get all packed and whatnot." The elder woman said from outside the dining room, "And make sure you finish all those waffles, hun. You're so skinny, you need to eat!"

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The man with his truck finally arrived a half hour later than expected, so Cloud had some extra time to say "goodbye" to his old home, or what was left of it.

_I'll come back one day…And rebuild your home, Mom._

_Maybe…Maybe I'll start a family in it, like you always dreamed for me._

"_A strong woman to take care of my baby", you told me._ Cloud thought as tears stung his eyes while staring at the ash and rubble.

_I __**will**__ come home, Mom. _

_Trust me._

The truck pulled up a few moments later, just in time, too; Cloud was on the verge of tears.

The blonde threw his remaining belongings into the bed of the truck and walked around to the front to get in.

"Where you goin'?" The driver asked in a gruff, Southern voice.

"Gongaga." Cloud answered quietly and got in the tight space that was the backseat of the dusty, old truck.

"A'ight, then. Buckle up, I don't wanna have to clean your blood n' guts off my windshield if we get in a wreck!" The driver shouted as he revved the engine.

Cloud buckled his seatbelt and looked out the handprint-clad window of the dirty, yellow truck, watching the scenery fly by in a blur of greens, browns, and yellows.

To say it nicely, the blur of colors looked like barf, and that was exactly what Cloud was about to do. He always got sick when he was in any kind of vehicle; whether it be cars, airplanes, trains, anything that moved made him sick to his stomach.

To get his mind off the throw-up-resembling scenery, the blonde focused his attention on the inside of the truck. The floor was dirty and was strewn with crumpled up papers that looked to be receipts, fast food bags, and the half eaten fast food as well. Cloud gagged at the mere thought of food, also because it looked to be more than a couple of months old and had dirt, mold, and flies all over it.

He saw something shiny on the floor and picked it up.

It was an old photograph of the driver standing next to his truck, leaning and arm on it and posing. He ran his thumb over the Polaroid picture and just stared at it. The blonde chuckled a little when he looked at the truck and thought that it looked oddly like a Twinkie that had been dropped in the dirt.

He put the picture back down where he found it and gazed down to the pendant Mrs. Johnson had given him.

_What did she mean by "you need it"? I'm so confused…_

The truck bumped up harshly and Cloud was thrown from his thoughts.

"Hey, kid, you might as well get some sleep or somethin'. We won't get ta Gongaga for a few hours." The driver said in his gruff voice.

Cloud nodded and rested his head against the side of the truck, not caring that his hair was getting covered in dust from the truck.

_Maybe a little sleep will do me some good…_

Cloud thought as he fell asleep.

_Maybe…It will all go away._

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When Cloud arrived in Gongaga, he searched for almost thirty minutes, trying to find the right house. At last he came to the last home in the town; this, literally, had to be Sephiroth's house. The blonde knocked on the thick, wooden door and bit his lip, waiting for a response. _Maybe he isn't home? No, that's not right, he said he'd be waiting for me when I got here. Maybe I should—_

His thoughts were interrupted by the door creaking open and a beautiful girl stepped forward.

"Yes, may I help you with something, sir?"

"Uh-Umm…"

"…Sir?"

Cloud was at a loss for words; this girl was so damn _beautiful._

She had soft, snow white skin with pink cheeks and lips as red as roses and her hair was a pretty chestnut brown, braided, and tied back into a ponytail with a cute pink bow. She was thin, but still healthy looking, and wore a breezy white dress with baby blue stripes and bows on it. The girl really was very pretty, to say the least.

"Uhh…I think you should go…" The girl's eyes went wide with fear of the silent, sputtering blonde in front of her.

"NO!" He shouted at her, making the brunette flinch.

"No, I mean…Umm…Is this Sephiroth's house?" Cloud questioned, hoping he got the address right and that he didn't just make a fool of himself in front of this cute girl.

After all, he didn't have very much luck with girls in the first place; stuttering and shouting in a girl's face certainly didn't win him any points with her.

Like the one time when he and his childhood crush, Tifa, were sitting down at the lake, where they always hung out, eating ice cream; Tifa didn't know that Cloud had a crush on her, but she probably found out when he leaned over and started kissing her (A/N: It was French, too, baby!! Oh, Cloud, you and your raging teenage hormones. XD) out of no where. She ended up slapping him across the face and getting a restraining order against him. Oh well, there's plenty more fish in the sea.

"Yes, this is Sephiroth's home. Who are you?" The girl in the doorway questioned.

"I'm Cloud…Terra's son. I need to see Sephiroth." Cloud answered, running his thin fingers through his blonde spikes nervously.

"…Cloud?" Her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed while she pondered his name.

"Oh, Cloud! Wow, it's been so long! It's me, Aerith! Don't you remember me?" The girl exclaimed, pulling the blonde into a bone-crushing hug, obviously happy that he was there.

"Umm…No…?" Cloud was confused (and quickly running out of oxygen). Who was this girl? How did she know him?

"…You…Don't remember me…? Aerith? You came to visit my father, Sephiroth, and I with your mom eight years ago! We were best friends! How can you not remember me, Cloud?" This "Aerith" girl looked hurt that Cloud didn't remember her and released him from the hug, which actually relieved him a bit.

"…Wait…Aerith…That name sounds familiar…Aerith…Aerith…**AERITH**?!" Cloud cried, "Aerith?!" The memories were all coming back to him: the late summer nights of eating popsicles out by the old well, making snowmen and sitting next to the fire place drinking hot cocoa during the winter, and all the sleepovers they had (before their parents decided they were "too old for that").

"Gaia, Cloud, you always_ were_ a bit slow." Aerith giggled softly.

"Wow, it's been forever, Aerith…But you still haven't changed a bit. Meanie." Cloud muttered, feigning hurt and crossing his arms over his chest. "Anyways, Aerith, where's Sephiroth? It's been nice catching up, but I need to talk to him about something important." Cloud said quietly.

Aerith nodded and smiled, "He's in his study, ya know, where he…Studies things." She said and giggled. Cloud rolled his eyes and smiled a little, as well. "Well, can you take me to him?" The blonde asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Uh-huh!" The brunette giggled and opened the door wider for Cloud to come in.

"Just down that hall to the right." She said and pointed in the direction the blonde was supposed to go. Cloud nodded and walked in the direction she pointed.

He came to a door that had a silver plaque on the front reading "STUDY" in big, capital letters. _This is it, I suppose._ Cloud sighed and knocked on the door.

After a few seconds, the door opened and a tall, handsome man with extremely long, silver hair and emerald green eyes appeared in the entrance.

"Hello, Cloud."

"Hey, Sephiroth."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter. I made sure it would be a bit longer than the prologue so you guys' needs would be satisfied. :)

Ha ha, I love Mrs. Johnson; she reminds me of my grandma, all country-like and old fashioned, using the words "hun" and "sweetie".

And another thing, I hope you guys didn't think it was too weird or creepy that Aerith is Sephiroth's daughter. I was gonna make her his wife or something, but that would totally screw up the story I had in mind, so it was a no-go. Sorry, mates. ):

Also…I just found out that my brother is going to be deployed to Iraq, so, if it isn't too much trouble, could you guys possibly pray for him? It would mean a lot.

So, yeah...

Please review and thank you for reading. :)


	3. Face Down

Dudes, I am so sorry for not updating in a while

Dudes, I am **so sorry** for not updating in a while! Please forgive me! –Drops to knees and kisses your hands—Wait. Eww.—Puts Germ-X on your hands and _then_ kisses your hands—There, that's more like it. XD

Okay, so, anyways, sorry again for the late update, I've just been dealing with a lot of stuff lately: school starting up, family issues, and there's also that dreaded "Writer's Block" that we all suffer from every once in a while. Plus, writing fanfictions isn't my only hobby; I also make AMV's and draw (My YouTube is **AirashiiProductions**; My DeviantART is **HotArtistChick123**), so my daily planner basically looks like this: LSCOWSKEWLSUXARSEMFOWMEMUSICALCHEESESTICKSCOIWMEFLKASJEDFCJKSD--SqIRRELZKM:D (I'll give you a virtual cookie if you can find the 7 words that I put in there. LOL)

Yeah. XD

LOL.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed!

**SuicidalImbecile**, I really appreciate it. –Hugs- (:

**FutureMsAndou**, YOUR DEMAND HAS BEEN FULFILLED, YO.

**d0rkgoddess**, thanks, and do you know what _**I**_ find interesting? Yaoi. Which _just might_ happen in this chapter. –Wink wink- Nahh, but Zack and Cloud **might** meet, though. :D

Oh, and of course, thanks to the 524+ people who read my story, but haven't reviewed! It's okay guys, just knowing that you have read it is enough. (: Anyways, here's that bogus disclaimer:

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

Umm, so yeah, enjoy this chapter. (:

**Chapter Two- Face Down**

_Previously, in __Contact__…_

_This is it, I suppose._ _Cloud sighed and knocked on the door._

_After a few seconds, the door opened and a tall, handsome man with extremely long, silver hair and emerald green eyes appeared in the entrance._

"_Hello, Cloud."_

"_Hey, Sephiroth."_

_--_

"It's been a while, Cloud." The silver haired man said while extending his hand for Cloud to shake. The blonde glanced down at Sephiroth's hand and slowly reached out and grabbed it, shaking it a little, "It has." He replied quietly, averting his gaze from the emerald orbs staring down at him.

Sephiroth chuckled quietly, "You haven't changed one bit, Cloud Strife. You're still as short as you were eight years ago, I see."

Cloud released the older man's hand and glared, "Yeah, well…" he muttered something along the lines of "you're still an ass" under his breath so that Sephiroth couldn't hear.

The older man chuckled again, pretending he didn't hear the blonde's statement, "Did you say something?"

"…Forget it. Can we just talk about what I came here for?"

"Ah, yes…Cloud…I am…I'm truly sorry…Terra was… A great woman, as I'm sure you know." Sephiroth looked down at the blonde, who was slowly turning his eyes up to look at him; his azure eyes were full of sadness, and completely lacking even a single hint of hope.

_Poor boy…He lost his father, and now his mother? He's gone through so much in his short life…_The silver haired man closed his eyes. _He has nothing left._

"Sephiroth?"

"Oh, sorry", he cleared his throat quietly, "Regarding your stay here, you will have to pay rent because I can't really afford to keep an extra person here, you know."

The truth was, he could barely afford to keep Aerith with him on his own paycheck; he is a teacher and the money he makes isn't much at all.

Money was never a problem when Sephiroth was still married to his late wife, Lucrecia, who was a neurosurgeon working for a hospital in the city (**A/N:** In other words, **BIG MONEY 8D.**).

Actually, Aerith was adopted at the age of two. Sephiroth and Lucrecia couldn't have children of their own because Lucrecia was sterile, so they decided to adopt. But five years after Aerith was adopted, Lucrecia was killed. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting caught in the crossfire of a gang war while getting off the bus that took her to and from her job in the city.

After Lucrecia was killed, Sephiroth suffered emotionally and financially and ended up having to take out loans from the bank to support himself and his child.

Now, Cloud was one more mouth to feed, and he just couldn't afford that on his own.

"Yes, I know, and I'm prepared to get a job. I'm almost sixteen, so I think I should be allowed to work at the diner or something." The blonde replied, looking behind Sephiroth at his large, paper-clad desk. It was covered with bills, and he was getting behind in the paying them from the looks of it.

"Hn," The older man nodded a little and realized what Cloud was looking at and cleared his throat, silently telling the blonde to mind his own business.

Cloud shook his head and looked back into the glowing green eyes staring back at him, "So how much would it be, exactly?"

"I would think about," Sephiroth's eyes rolled up, looking at the ceiling, something he did when he was thinking, and hummed, "Maybe a hundred fifty gil a month? That's including everything: water, electricity, food, et cetera."

"Huh, that seems pretty reasonable…," Cloud mumbled, looking down and rubbing his chin, thinking whether or not he should haggle for a lower price, "Okay, I'll take it."

"Good, but there's one condition." Sephiroth smiled a little, but then put on a serious face.

All of a sudden, the blonde wasn't feeling too well, "Umm…What would that be?"

"You are not to touch my daughter, and you _know_ what I mean by that. Do I make myself _clear_?" The older man shot Cloud a look that would be scary enough to make even a Midgar Zolom piss itself.

"Y-yes, sir." The blonde gulped and stuttered, breaking out into a sweat. He had never really thought of Aerith as any more than a really good friend or a younger sister, but he would have to be "careful" around her, just in case Sephiroth was watching from some hidden camera in the house or something, like on that stupid show that no one watches (**A/N:** AKA "Big Brother". No one but my mom watches that show, I think. LOL).

"Well, I guess we're all set, then," Sephiroth smiled softly, his glare disappearing completely. Cloud shoved his hands into his jean pockets and nodded, "I-I suppose so." He said nervously and smiled gratefully that Sephiroth's "death glare" was gone.

The blonde nodded once more and turned to walk out of the room, when he remembered something and turned around, "So, umm…Where do I stay?"

"Aerith will show you to your room. She's outside the door and doesn't know that I know she's there." The silver haired man answered, and said the last part louder than the rest, secretly telling the brunette on the other side of the door that she was busted.

The thick wooden door opened and Aerith popped her head in with a pathetic "whoops" grin on her face, "Ehehe…Umm…Cloud, follow me, I'll show you where your room is." She giggled and grabbed Cloud's hand, dragging him out of the room before her adopted father could lecture her about spying while Sephiroth shouted after him, "Remember what I told you about my daughter, boy!"

--

"So, how do you like it?" Aerith asked, tilting her head a little. Cloud wasn't really all that surprised by the size of the room, which wasn't much different from the rest of the rooms that Aerith had showed him on the tour of the house, since the house wasn't very large, but he _was_ shocked at how under-decorated it was.

The rest of the house was decorated with nice furniture, colorfully painted walls, multiple windows that let in sunlight, vanilla scented candles, pictures on the walls and on tables, and an over all warm feeling throughout.

This room was plain with off-white walls, one dusty window that looked as if it had never been opened, and only a few items of furniture, nothing else. Also, the room was cold and had a very musky scent, like no one had entered it in months, or maybe years.

There was a twin sized bed, a bit larger than the one in his old home, in the middle of the room facing the door and to the right, the window, and to the left, the closet. In front of the bed was the doorway, in which Cloud and Aerith were standing, and to the right of the doorway was a dusty wooden desk similar to the one in Sephiroth's study, only a little bit smaller.

"It isn't too dusty?" Aerith frowned, hoping that the blonde didn't disapprove of his living quarters. "Hmm…I think this will do." Cloud nodded and smiled softly at Aerith, assuring her that the room was livable. Aerith smiled back, her perfect white teeth showing, "Good. Would you like me to help you unpack or something?" the brunette motioned towards the duffle bags Cloud was carrying on his shoulders and in his hands.

"No, thank you, I can do it myself." He replied as he walked over to the bed and dropped the bags on it, dust flying up everywhere. Aerith giggled as the blonde coughed and waved his hand in front of his face as his eyes watered from the dust.

"(Cough) Okay (Cough) Maybe you can (Cough) get me a duster (Cough) or something (Cough)." Cloud managed to choke out, wiping his eyes and coughing wildly. _Damn allergies…ACHOO!_ He cursed in his mind and covered his nose and mouth as he sneezed.

"Okay, I'll go get something to use to clean up," Aerith giggled as Cloud kept coughing and waving his hand in front of his face, "…And maybe some allergy medicine?" she giggled as he nodded, still coughing and sneezing.

Aerith turned to leave and walked out the door, still laughing and left Cloud to unpack.

Cloud shuddered from the lack of heat or sound in the room, _It's way too quiet in here…_He thought and walked over to turn the radio that was on the wooden desk on. He didn't know any of the stations since they were all different from the ones in Nibelheim, so he just let a random station play its music. At least he knew the _music_ playing on the stations.

The voice on the radio that called himself "DJ Derek" ,or something along those lines, announced the song coming on and then let it play, "Here ya go, y'all, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's number one song, "Face Down"!" the voice said enthusiastically as the song started up.

Cloud smiled a little and nodded his head up and down to the beat of the drums in the song. _Hey, I love this song!_ He thought as he continued to bob his head up and down when the guitars joined in with the drums.

_Hey, girl you know you drive me crazy_

_One look puts the rhythm in my head_

_Still I'd rather understand why you hang around_

_I see what's going down_

Cloud sang along to the lyrics in the song, knowing every single word; it was his favorite song (**A/N:** For the week, at least. I have a new favorite song every week; I just can't stick to one song! XD).

_Cover up with make up in the mirror_

_Tell yourself it's never gonna happen again_

_You cry alone_

_And then he swears he loves you_

The song's beat picked up and Cloud banged his head dramatically as the chorus started up, still singing the words, and pretended to play the electric guitar, swiping his hands in the air in front of him.

_Do you feel like a man_

_When you push her around?_

_Do you feel better now,_

_As she falls to the ground?_

_Well I'll tell you my friend,_

_One day this world's got to end_

_As your lies crumble down_

_A new life she has found_

Cloud was about to sing the next verse, when Aerith poked her head in the doorway, feather duster in hand, and smiled at him. The blonde quickly switched off the radio and turned to look at the brunette beauty.

"Uh…Umm…"Cloud stuttered, blushing a deep crimson red. How did he always manage to look like an idiot in front of her?

"No, turn it back on, I like this song!" Aerith protested, motioning towards the now quiet radio. Cloud blinked a few times and nodded slowly, turning the radio back on.

They had missed half the verse, but Aerith smiled and started singing the words to the song.

_I see the way you go and say you're right again_

_Say you're right again_

_Heed my lecture!_

The chorus came on again and, after staring at the brunette for a good bit, Cloud sang the chorus along with her.

_Face down in the dirt,_

_She said "This doesn't hurt"_

_She said "I've finally had enough"_

_Face down in the dirt,_

_She said "This doesn't hurt"_

_She said "I've finally had enough"_

Cloud and Aerith faced each other and held their hands out in front of them, Aerith holding the feather duster, pretending to hold microphones and screamed the next part.

_One day she will tell you_

_That she has had enough!_

Aerith bent over with her "microphone" and head banged to emphasize the part where the electric guitar screams right before the next lyrics.

_It's coming round again!_

The chorus played two more times and they sung all the lyrics, with head bangs and a few dance moves thrown in there.

_Face down in the dirt,_

_She said "This doesn't hurt"_

_She said "I've finally had enough!!"_

Cloud breathed heavily and bent over, leaning his hands on his knees while another song came on. Aerith breathed out and switched the radio off and plopped on the dusty bed with Cloud's bags and sighed tiredly.

"Whew," Cloud wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Singing takes a lot out of you, huh, Aerith?" The blonde turned around and looked at Aerith lying on her back on his bed with her eyes half-closed. The smile he was wearing fell when he saw that she was crying.

"Aerith…?" He took a step forward and sat on the edge of the bed.

The brunette flipped over on her side, tears still falling down her cheeks, "What happened?" she barely whispered.

"…What?" Cloud questioned, running his fingers nervously through his blonde spikes out of habit.

"…What happened…To us, Cloud?" Aerith whispered, closing her eyes and shoving her face into the dusty pillow next to her head.

"What do you mean?" Now Cloud was confused. _There had been an "us"? I thought we were just friends…_He pondered, his brows furrowing as he thought.

"You know, _us_? We were best friends—no, closer than that—when we were kids, but…We just drifted apart..." She said, turning to face Cloud, who had lied down next to her on the bed.

"Oh…That," he replied, blushing due to how close they were. Their faces were only inches apart and he could feel her warm breath on his lips, tempting him.

"I uh…I don't know, Aerith. But, I want you to know, it wasn't on purpose or anything..." Cloud continued, making the brunette girl smile.

"Oh, okay, that's good then," she said and paused. Her smile faded, her lips were parted a little, and oh so tempting, "I missed you…" the brunette whispered and Cloud could have sworn she leaned in just a tad bit closer to him.

"I…I missed you, too, Aerith…" He said softly, leaning in closer himself, at this point, their lips were not even half an inch apart.

Suddenly, Cloud remembered something important.

"Oh, _shit_!" He yelled, his eyes widening as he jumped up and off the bed, crawling over from the spot on the floor he fell to over to where the window was.

Aerith's eyes went wide as well, "Cloud, what is wrong with you?" she cried, "I…I thought…I thought you felt…" she didn't need to finish the sentence; Cloud knew what she was trying to say.

"Aerith…We're just friends, and only that. I'm…I'm sorry that I don't feel the same way, it's just…Well, I don't even know." He stumbled on his words, trying to use the right ones as to not hurt her.

_Plus, if I __**had**__ kissed you, your dad would have cut my balls off, smashed them into bite-sized pieces, fried them up and force fed them to me with a spork._ He wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut for his own good.

"…I'm sorry, Cloud…I just…"She sighed and put her head in her hands, "I just…Nevermind. You wouldn't understand." She whispered and got off the bed and headed for the door.

Cloud was at a loss for words, _I don't know what to say to her…Something, other than the obvious "Sephiroth factor", was holding me back…What it is, I don't know…_

"Dinner will be ready soon." The brunette said, almost bitterly, and walked out the door.

Cloud just stared at the doorway where his beautiful childhood friend had just been standing and decided, after a few moments more of staring, that his bags weren't going to unpack themselves. He got up and combed his fingers through his blonde spikes again, and started to unpack the few things he had.

--

Unpacking didn't take the blonde-haired teen too long, so he trudged down the hall to the kitchen where Sephiroth and Aerith were already sitting at the small dinner table.

"Ah, it's about time, Cloud." Sephiroth said, nodding his head in the direction of a bowl full of some sort of pasta. Spaghetti and meatballs—Cloud's favorite!

"Looks good, Aerith." Cloud said quietly, an awkward silence had come over them.

Aerith looked up at him and smiled sadly, "Thanks." She said simply and looked back down quickly at the salad she was eating.

Cloud sat down on the cushioned chair, picked up the fork that next to his bowl, and took a few bites of spaghetti.

The room was quiet, and Sephiroth sensed something was wrong, so he put his own fork down with a clang, "Something's up." He said, glancing back and forth between Aerith and Cloud.

"N-no, nothing's wrong here," he stuttered, looking over to Aerith, "right, Aerith?" he looked back over to Sephiroth and then back over to Aerith again.

Aerith blinked and smiled, "Nothing is wrong, Papa." She said quietly and sweetly, trying to convince her adoptive father of something that wasn't true.

Sephiroth skeptically glared at Cloud some more, who was sweating profusely by the way, and decided that if there were something wrong, his daughter would tell him, and went back to eating.

Cloud silently breathed a sigh of relief and continued eating, glancing at Aerith from the corner of his eye. _Geez, this is really upsetting her, isn't it?_ He thought.

Though, he should have been focused on eating, rather than thinking, for he slurped up a mass of tomato sauce-covered noodles and ended up making a huge red mess on his chin, cheeks, nose, and lips.

"Awn, cwap!," he mumbled with his mouth full, and realized he didn't have a napkin.

"Aewith, ya gawttn nahpnkin?" he asked with his mouth full, trying to swallow all the noodles in his mouth.

Aerith took one look at him and giggled, then busted out laughing, "Cloud! You- You look so s-silly!" She said between laughs, tears forming in her eyes from laughing so hard.

Cloud could also hear Sephiroth chuckling next to him, "Aerith, go get the pig a napkin, please." The silver haired man laughed out.

Cloud made a spaghetti sauce clad pout and mumbled, "Ay'm nahhtta pegg…" and blushed as Aerith took a napkin and started wiping his face off.

Aerith giggled, "Stop moving around, I have to get this sauce off you!" she giggled some more and cleaned Cloud's face of any sauce that was on his face.

"There you go, Cloud, you can go back to eating now. Though, I think you ended up with more food on your face than in your mouth." The brunette said and giggled some more as Cloud protested and scoffed.

The three of them continued eating in a less awkward silence and when they were all done, got up and went back to their respective rooms to go to sleep.

Cloud, though, stayed up to take a shower, of course, where he recollected all the things that happened that day, like he always did when his house was still standing and his mother was still alive.

--

After his shower, Cloud stepped out of the bathroom in only a fluffy, white towel and headed to his room.

He shivered when he entered his new room, _Oh, yeah, I forgot that it's fucking __**FREEZING**__ in here. I need to tell Seph about this…Sheesh._ He thought as he quickly dressed in his blue, chocobo-covered pajamas and breathed a sigh of relief when he jumped under the warm, inviting covers (which were fresh and clean) and rested his head against the soft pillow.

He sighed and closed his eyes, _What a day…It's too bad about Aerith and all…I just…I don't feel the same towards her…I don't know why, either, that's that worst part._ Cloud thought as he drifted to sleep.

His eyes snapped open when he remembered the necklace Mrs. Johnson had given him and reached behind his neck to unclasp the jewelry.

The blonde tried to remove it, but it wouldn't budge one bit. _What the--?_ He thought and furrowed his brow, trying to take off the necklace, _It won't come off!_ _What the hell?!_

He tried some more for about ten more minutes, but he couldn't get the piece of jewelry off, no matter what he tried, and decided to give up and try later; he needed sleep desperately.

Cloud closed his eyes shut and sighed as he awaited sleep to take him to bliss.

--

Yup, so there's chapter two. :D

-Hides behind mysterious trashcan that appears out of nowhere from fish, cinderblocks, toasters, and other deadly objects that are thrown at her-

Yeah, yeah, I know! Cloud and Zack haven't met yet,** I know this**! I'm the _author_! Sheesh!

But, I guarantee you, they **WILL DEFINITELY**meet in the next chapter (which will be up soon; I'm already started on it)!!

I'm just trying to take the story slowly, ya know? I don't want to rush it.

So, how did you like it?

Oh, and yes, Sephiroth/Lucrecia is kinda…Ya know…Weird.

But, it had to be done.

Why?

**I don't know.** XD

LMAO.

It's just the first thing that popped into my head, and now I'm too lazy to go up and fix it.

Also, I personally liked the part where Cloud and Aerith are singing, didn't you? :D

Oh, speaking of Aerith, **NO**, **THIS IS NOT A CLOUD/AERITH FANFICTION!!**

I don't really even LIKE the pairing! XD

This is just temporary, until Cloud meets Zack and whatnot.

Oh yeah, and just so you guys know, yes, I am naming all (or most) of the chapters after songs. In fact, the title of this fanfiction is **Contact**, which is the name of a song I am _kinda_ **(LIES.)** obsessed with right now: "Contact" by Falling Up (the same band who wrote "250 & Dark Stars", for those of you who don't know).

I **really **recommend you go check it out once the story is done (or right now if you are impatient, like me XD). That song actually inspired the whole plot of the story, so yeah. Thanks, Falling Up! :D

**Oh, and I do not own the music, lyrics, or anything from the song "Face Down" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus in any way, shape, or form!!**


	4. Disturbia

Ha

Ha! I told you guys this chapter would be up soon! –Shoves her ego in your face and dances like a moron—

**LOL.**

So, does anyone like that new song "Disturbia" by Rihanna? I think it's amazing, so I'm naming this chapter after it. ;D

**Bum, bum, bee dum, bum, bum, bee dum bum. XD**

Sorry, mates, it's addictive.

Anyways, this is the chapter that **ZACK AND CLOUD FINALLY MEET**!! –Dances like a moron even more—YESH!! XD As you can tell, I'm excited about this. :3

Oh, and thanks for the reviews and the 850+ hits, guys! 8D

I never thought this story would be going so well!

**d0rkgoddess**- LOL, don't worry, I make up words all the time (People stare at me when I say them, though XD). And **YES**. Dude, Zack could even turn a homophobe gay, that's just how uber "beautimus" he is (ROFL.)

**SuicidalImbecile**- LMAO!! XD Glad you like it, and no, no, no, it will definitely **NOT** be a Cloud/Aerith, Zack/Aerith, or ANYTHING/Aerith (for now, at least; I might hook her up with someone else later on). Don't worry, our boys'll be together soon enough ;D. (Shh, don't tell anyone, but that _just might_ be the reason why this sounds almost like a Cloud/Aerith right now.)

**PandaGaaraInsomniac9**- Thanks! But, don't worry about Cloud; he'll be fine. 8D OMGMETOO.-Fangirl squee-

**Brunette S Angel**- Mehh, yeah, but who cares? XD I just wanted to show how Aerith and Cloud used to have fun as friends, ya know? That's why Aerith got all upset after they were done singing; I guess I shoulda cleared that up, huh? Whoops. XD

Ugh. Disclaimers suck like a whore on overtime.

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

On with the Ultra-Super-Mega, ground-breakingly, awesome chapter! –OMG EXAGGERATION OVERLOAD.—

NOW READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE I 'SPLODE, YO.

**Chapter Three- Disturbia**

It was early the next morning when Cloud awoke from his long, yet sleepless, night. He had been able to sleep for a long amount time, unlike back at his old home where he had to wake at eight thirty every morning, but he felt like he had only gotten an hour of sleep. His baby blue eyes flickered open slowly and gazed up at the popcorn-style ceiling (**A/N:** You know, when the ceiling is all…All…Gahh, you should know what I mean by "popcorn", right? XD)

The blonde groggily lifted his head to look at the digital clock on the desk across the room and squinted his sleep-deprived eyes to see the time better.

11:11 AM.

_Ha, I guess I should make a wish._ Cloud smirked as he thought this and he closed his eyes again, thinking about what he should wish for.

_I wish…_

His brows furrowed and his eyes clamped together tighter.

_I wish…I wish I wasn't so __**alone.**_

The blonde slowly opened his eyes again and after a few moments, plopped back down on his back against the mattress.

_I wish I had someone to love and care about, like how Sephiroth loves and cares for Aerith. I guess…I guess I wish for…_

_**Love.**_

Cloud frowned as he thought about his wish and scoffed out loud, making a disgusted face at what he considered stupidity for believing in wishes. His wishes coming true would mean that his life didn't suck, and he couldn't possibly have that, now could he?

_Wishes never come true…I'm just wasting my time._

He sighed heavily, sat up, and turned around, letting his legs hang off the side of the bed.

_You never know, Cloud._

Mrs. Johnson's words all of a sudden popped into his head as he was slipping his pale feet into his ratty, black slippers. They were old and worn, but they were always his favorite pair of slippers because they were so soft and had molded to the shape of his foot, making them perfect in his eyes.

He shook his head of his elderly neighbor's words as he walked out of his (still freezing cold) room and trudged down the hallway to the kitchen, where Aerith was preparing breakfast.

Cloud sat down at the kitchen table to wait for breakfast and looked over to the television where a cartoon was playing rather loudly. The blonde smiled a little when he saw which cartoon it was: "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack"; one of his favorites.

"Good morning, Cloud!" Aerith called from over her shoulder in the kitchen, "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

Cloud averted his gaze from the TV and looked over at her, "Ah, whatever you have would be fine with me." He answered and returned the smile that she sent his way then looked back to the television.

"_This is the West birthday ever!"_

_A cartoon sea monster appears on the screen, "Weeesssssstttttttt…"_

Cloud chuckled as he watched the show until Aerith placed a plate full of bacon, eggs, and sausage in front of him. "Would you like some juice, too, Cloud?" She asked politely, "Yeah, thanks, Aerith." He smiled softly as she walked back into the kitchen.

The blonde turned back to the plate in front of him and dug in, humming in delight, _Mmm, this is __**really**__ good! I think it could even be better than Ma's cooking!_ He thought as he continued to shovel food into his mouth.

Aerith returned a few moments later with orange juice in hand and smiled, "Fresh OJ right here; I just got it from the store yesterday." She said and set the glass down on the table. The brunette girl giggled when Cloud gratefully grabbed the glass and took a large gulp of orange juice and sighed, setting it back down on the table, "Yum." Was all he said as he looked up at her, beaming.

"Well, I'll leave you to your feast, then." Aerith giggled again and walked back into the kitchen to get a plate of breakfast for herself and Sephiroth, who had yet to "grace them with his presence".

After Aertih had gotten a plate of food and glass of orange juice for herself, she sat down in front of Cloud at the table and giggled when some food missed his mouth.

"Do you need a napkin, Cloud?"

"Nahh, I gawtt 'un, gankth Ae'ith."

The brunette laughed at this, placing her head in her hands, "Cloud, you really need to learn some table manners, you know." Cloud looked up at her, his cheeks bulging with the food he had shoved in his mouth, "Ay doh nautt!" and then grinned with his mouth still full.

"Eww! Cloud! Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

The laughing teens both looked across the room at Sephiroth who looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower, for his long silver hair was actually held back in a dripping wet pony tail and had no shirt on (**A/N: **FAN SERVICE, ANYONE?! 8D).

"Umm…You need to teach Oinky here some table manners, Papa."

"Nuh- Uhnn!!"

"Shiva, Cloud, chew and swallow your food before you speak." Sephiroth scolded before he sat down at the table with his own plate of food he had gotten from the kitchen, "And for Gaia's sake, would it kill you to actually _use _that napkin that's right in front of you?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes in feign anger at the older man and swallowed his food, only to shove even more into his mouth, "So, Cloud, are you going to go look for a job today?" Aerith decided to change the subject before the two men got into a fight over how to behave at the table.

This time, Cloud chewed and swallowed his food before answering, "Yeah, I was thinking I could maybe be some kind of intern; like maybe for the local doctor? I already know a lot about doctor offices, since my mom was a nurse herself, so I could probably use that to my advantage. By the way, when do I start going to school?"

The other two at the table nodded their heads in agreement and Sephiroth spoke up, "Tomorrow."

Cloud nearly choked on the eggs he was swallowing, "Wh-What?!" he managed to choke out, "You're starting school tomorrow, and so is Aerith, as a matter of fact; tomorrow is Monday, after all. I have already registered you at Gongaga High School and they will be sending me your class schedule via E-mail sometime later tonight. Is there something wrong?" Sephiroth explained, briefly stopping to nibble on some sausage or eggs in between each sentence.

"Uhh…No, I was just thinking I would have a little more time to, you know, prepare, or whatever, but tomorrow is fine, I guess…" Cloud mumbled, not really looking forward to have to go to school again AND look for a job.

Being a teen sure did suck.

--

After he finished up his seemingly never-ending breakfast, Cloud decided he should probably go take a walk around town, or maybe "_stop_ _procrastinating_ _and go get a job_", as Sephiroth had said earlier.

"_Cloud, after breakfast, you should go take a walk, to get familiar with the town again; it's changed a lot since you've last been here, you know." Aerith called over her shoulders while washing the dishes._

"_Yeah, yeah…" He mumbled, drying the clean, wet dishes that she handed over to him._

"_Oh! Could you also get some of the grocery shopping done, as well? Please? I always have to do it, so maybe you could do it this time while you're walking around…Pleeeassee?" She begged, giving the blonde the best puppy-dog face she could muster, "Ok, fine, but that puppy-dog thing doesn't work on me." He smirked and laughed as he hip-bumped Aerith, pushing her a little to the left._

"_Hey!" The brunette cried out and did the same thing, pushing Cloud to the right, making him stumble and drop a dish, causing it to smash on the hard linoleum kitchen floor._

"_Oh my!" Aerith gasped and went to get a broom and dust pan._

"_Whoops." Cloud grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "Uhh, maybe I should just go…Get that shopping done now…Ehehe…" He laughed nervously as Aerith shooed him out of the kitchen playfully with her hands on her hips and a "you klutz" look on her face._

_And, so now, I'm stuck doing the shopping…Ugh…_The blonde thought, sighing out loud as he scuffled down the dirt road away from the house. _Oh well…I deserve it, I guess._ He chortled but immediately stopped when he felt someone watching him.

Cloud stopped in his tracks, causing a cloud of dirt to fly up in the air around his feet, _What the hell is that? Someone's watching me…_He thought, looking around, and when he saw no one around, he continued walking, looking out the corner of his eye, just in case.

"_Look at his hair…"_

"_Who is _that_?"_

"_What a loser…!"_

The blonde heard whispers and hushed laughs coming from all around him, and he suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

"_Come on, let's follow him…"_

"_He might hurt us…"_

"_He's so scrawny, he couldn't…"_

Cloud heard more whispers and stopped again, looking around a second time.

"_Shit…"  
"I think he heard us…"  
"Can he see us…?"_

His eyes narrowed as he focused on where the voices were coming from: the bushes.

_**I'm**__a loser? They're the ones hiding in the first place I'm going to look! Dopes…_He thought then headed straight for the bushes, where he heard rustling and more whispers. They must not have heard him come up to the bushes for they didn't stop whispering to each other, even when he walked up behind them in the bushes.

"I _know_ he is such a fucking _loser_, guys." He whispered with them as if he were one of the members of their posse.

Suddenly, the three ugly, teenage boys froze where they were sitting and turned around to face the blonde that was just a little bit younger than them.

"The hell do _you_ want? I don't think we were talking to you, now, were we?" The boy to the right said angrily.

_A cocky bastard, aren't you?_ Cloud thought to himself and smirked.

"The fuck are you smiling at, blondie?! I'm gonna wipe that fucking grin right off your bastard face!" The one to the far left shouted, cracking his knuckles to prove the point.

"Boys, boys, no need to get all worked up over this punk. He wouldn't stand a chance against us, anyways, now would he?" The boy in the middle said, a cocky grin on his face. This guy was obviously the leader of the group, for the two boys on either side of him immediately shut up and just sent a glare Cloud's way.

Cloud just scoffed and looked away, smiling for a second, then turned around and collided his fist with the middle boy's face, causing the boy to scream out in pain, "GET 'IM!!"

Suddenly, the two boys on either side of their "leader" jumped up at Cloud, one grabbing his arms so he couldn't hit them and the other grabbed his legs so he couldn't kick.

He was trapped.

The leader teen got up and stumbled for a bit and smirked through the blood that was flowing from his nose and down his chin. _Way to go, Cloud, this is only your second day here and the other kids already hate you. Nice job._

Cloud and the other boy glared at each other before the brown haired boy spoke up, "You know, kid…" He said softly while pacing back and forth slowly in front of Cloud, "You should have never come here." His chocolate brown eyes landed on the blonde as he stopped pacing and stood right in front of him.

Cloud just glared and spat right in the brown haired boy's face, "Fuck you, I didn't have a _choice_." He spat out and shot daggers through his eyes at the other boy.

The brunette just laughed for a moment before pausing, then frowned and slammed his fist into Cloud's gut, knocking the breath out of him. The blonde gasped for air and bent over, trails of saliva coming out of his wide open mouth.

"What was that, blondie?" The brunette asked in a fake innocent voice, "I didn't quite catch that." He said, smirking as he grabbed a few of Cloud's blonde spikes, lifting his head to face the brunette.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," the boy commanded and Cloud just spat in his face again, "F…Fuck you…" the blonde said breathlessly, earning him yet another punch in the stomach.

"You should learn some respect if you want to continue living here, kid." The brown haired boy said, wiping the spit off his face and looked at the residue in his hand disgustedly, "Oh, you don't look so good, blondie." He said in a fake caring voice, then struck Cloud in the face with his bony knuckles, "You need some help there? You got a little blood on your face…" The brunette said, wiping some of the blood from Cloud's busted lip away to show to him, "See? Oh, that's just too bad…" He said, tsk-ing and shaking his head.

The other boy glared again at Cloud and smirked as he kneed the blonde in the stomach, causing Cloud to cough up even more blood and lose more breath, "This'll teach ya to mess with me!!" the brown haired boy shouted, raising his fist into the air.

Cloud flinched, squeezing his eyes shut, preparing for another beating, but opened his eyes when he didn't feel the familiar pain of the other boy's fist connecting with his face. Instead, he felt the two other boys that were holding him stop laughing and let him go, dropping him to the ground in an exhausted and bloody heap.

He looked up with his last bit of strength; he could feel himself slowly slipping into unconsciousness. The blonde blinked his eyes slowly, trying to stay awake as he saw the three thugs run off with their tails (metaphorically) between their legs and a dark figure move over to him.

Cloud's vision blurred as the figure moved closer and all he could hear was what he supposed was the dark form's voice, "Hey, you alright? Oh, Shiva, what the hell did they do to you…It's okay, kid, I'll get you out of here."

All Cloud could manage before he passed out was, "…I'm not…A kid…" he breathed out as he lost consciousness.

--

"_Cloudy…"_

_Mama? Is that you?_

"_Cloud, wake up, baby."_

_Mama, it's you!_

"_Cloud, you have to wake up. He's waiting for you."_

"_Who? Who's waiting for me?"_

"_You'll see, baby; all you have to do is wake up."_

Cloud's eyes fluttered open slowly and squinted from the bright lights of what he supposed was a hospital room or doctor's office. Well, considering the fact that Gongaga was a small town, it was probably just a doctor's office, not a hospital. Also, the nearest hospital was far away in the next city, so there was no way he was in a hospital, he figured.

"Oh, you're awake! It's about time, kid." A familiar voice called from the corner. "I'm not a kid…"the blonde automatically responded. What was with people and calling him a kid all the time? The voice in the corner of the room chuckled and Cloud could hear the person it belonged to get up and walk over to where he was lying, "Where…Am I?" He asked slowly, trying to open his eyes and adjust them to the bright light of the room.

"Junon Hospital." The voice answered casually, "WHAT?!" If Cloud wasn't awake then, he was now, "J-Junon?! How—Wh- What?!" His eyes snapped open and he bolted upwards, looking around frantically at the room and his eyes landed on something that caught his eye.

A man with wild, spiky raven colored hair was sitting next to him on the edge of the bed, looking down at him. The first thing Cloud noticed about him was his eyes: they were a deep, sky blue and were shining with happiness; they were arguably the most beautiful things the blonde had ever seen.

"Yeah, Junon. You feelin' alright? You took quite a beating from those douche bags back in Gongaga where I found ya." The man asked worriedly, and then smiled when Cloud, who was still staring into his beautiful eyes, nodded slowly.

That was another thing about the man that Cloud noticed: his smile. It seemed to light up the entire room and was so warm and gentle; almost like his mother's.

_Gaia, this has to be the most gorgeous man I've ever seen before in my life…_Cloud blushed and shook his head of those thoughts. He had never really been attracted to men this way, and he wasn't about to start (**A/N:** Oh, hell yes you will, Cloud. –Grins mischievously-), either.

"Oh, I'm Zack, by the way, Zack Fair!" the man who called himself "Zack Fair" said excitedly and smiled again, extending his hand for Cloud to shake. The blonde just stared at his hand for a moment and looked back up at Zack's beaming face, then back down at his extended hand, "I'm Cloud Strife…" he answered and smiled tiredly back up at Zack, grabbing and shaking his hand, _Jeez, this guy's smile is contagious._

The raven haired man smiled even brighter, which Cloud didn't even find possible, "Nice ta meet ya, Cloud Strife!" he said, "No…It's just Cloud, Zack." The blonde corrected.

"Oh, okay, nice ta meet ya, Just Cloud Zack!" Zack grinned at Cloud when he laughed at his bad joke, _This kid is way too cute for his own good…_Zack thought, but then frowned when Cloud clutched his side from pain, "Gaia…Those assholes…"

"Oh, hey, I'm sorry about what those idiots did to you…They have to beat up smaller kids just because they're insecure about themselves, ya know?" Zack looked down at the cringing blonde.

"I told you…I'm not a kid." Cloud breathed out, "Aw, I'm just showin' affection towards ya, Cloudy-boy." Zack smiled brightly and laughed when the blonde looked up at him confused, "You already have a nickname for me, do you?" _Heh…Cloudy…That's what Mom used to call me…_

"Sure do, chocobo head!" Zack chuckled as he reached over and ruffled Cloud's hair, and when the blonde pouted, Zack busted out laughing, _That pout has got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen!_ The older boy thought, ruffling the blonde spikes again, "Hey, this is fun!"

"Yeah, well, stop it…When can I get out of here?" he pouted, earning another laugh from Zack, "Ehh, we can leave right now. You've already been here for the whole day; it's uhh…" Zack said before glancing down at his wristwatch, "About 7:30 PM in Gongaga right now." He confirmed, watching Cloud get up from the bed, "I should probably take you back, huh?" He asked, earning a nod from Cloud.

"Umm…Where are my clothes, Zack?"

"Oh, the nurse has 'em. I'll go ask her for them back, wait here." Zack said, already out the door, "O…kay." The blonde started but was cut off by the door slamming.

_Gaia, what a day this has been…_

--

After Zack had signed Cloud out from the Junon Hospital, he helped Cloud up on his back and gave him a ride as they wandered out to the parking lot where Zack had parked his motorcycle.

"Motorcycle? If we were on a motorcycle, how did you get me here without me falling off?" Cloud's face scrunched up in confusion as they made their way to where Zack _thought_ he parked his bike.

"I coulda sworn it was over here somewhere…Oh, and I just sat you in front of me; it was no biggie." The raven haired man sighed from the frustration of not remembering where he parked his bike, "The hell is it…?" He asked himself, searching row after row of vehicles until they came to a shiny, black and silver motorcycle, "Is this it?" Cloud pointed to it from his position on Zack's back, "Oh! Yeah, that's it! Good job, Cloudy!"

Cloud smiled softly as Zack bounced him up in the air a little bit and carried him over to the bike. "Whoa…Nice ride…"Cloud stared in awe at how beautiful the bike was up close, "Thanks!" Zack nodded as he set Cloud down gently at the front of the motorcycle and then sat down behind him, straddling the cushioned seat.

"You ready, chocobo head?" Zack asked, ruffling Cloud's blonde spikes again, earning a glare and then a nod, "I swear, if I fall off this thing, I'll kill you, Zack Fair."

"Ah, don't worry your pretty little head, Cloudy, I won't let you fall no matter what." Zack smiled as he revved up the engine and peeled away out of the parking lot.

"How long is this ride going to take us?" Cloud shouted over the roar of the engine, "Ehh, about an hour or so if I keep going at this speed." Zack answered, shrugging his shoulders, "So, where are you from? You're obviously not from Gongaga." He called out, changing the subject.

"Nibelheim." Cloud answered after a brief pause, earning a laugh from Zack, "What about you?"

"Me? Born and raised in Gongaga! Lived there all my life, in fact!" He shouted proudly and Cloud nodded, "So, how old are you, anyways, kid?" the blonde sighed, giving up on trying to convince Zack that he wasn't a kid.

"I'm fifteen, but I'm going to be sixteen in a couple weeks." He said, hoping that Zack would stop calling him a kid if he heard how old he was going to be, "Huh, I just turned seventeen about a month ago. Ehh, you're still a kid to me." He grinned and Cloud just sighed defeat, "Whatever…"

"So, ya got a girlfriend?" Zack asked bluntly, causing Cloud's eyes to go wide, "Wh-What?"

"I said, 'so, ya got a girlfriend?'" Zack repeated with a laugh.

"No, not really…Actually…I've never had one before…" The blonde stated sadly, hanging his head in shame, "What? Really?" Zack asked, shocked.

"Yeah…Unfortunately…"

"Well, that's not right. I'm surprised a cutie like you isn't already taken!" Zack yelled over the engine.

Cloud's eyes went even wider as he turned to look at Zack in back of him, who was grinning some kind of dopey smile. The blonde shook his head and smiled to himself, "You're a moron, Zack…"Cloud said, still smiling.

"Mehh, I take it as a compliment." The older man replied and grinned that dopey grin again.

--

An hour drive later, Zack and Cloud finally arrived back in Gongaga and rode slowly down the dirt road that led to Sephiroth's house, "So, which one of these houses is it, Cloudy?" Zack asked, observing all the houses from his seat on the motorcycle.

"That one." Cloud said and pointed to the average-sized brick house on the left side of the road, "I bet your folks are worried sick about you, huh?" Zack asked, slowing down to a stop in front of the house.

_I don't have any folks to worry…_"Uhh…Yeah…"Cloud said, not wanting to tell his new friend about the fact that he didn't _have_ any folks anymore.

"Hell, I would be. If I had a kid as cute as you, I'd have you chained to me so no weirdoes could take you away from me!" Zack said, allowing Cloud to climb onto his back while he carried him up the steep dirt drive way that led to Sephiroth's house.

_Shiva, this is the second time tonight he's called me cute…_Cloud thought, blushing to himself as he held onto Zack's broad shoulders, "Well, here we are, Cloudy. Thank you for choosing Zack Fair Airlines for your travel needs today and we hope you enjoyed your flight and will fly with us again soon." Zack said, pretending to be a pilot while letting Cloud down onto the ground, who was still using his arm as a crutch while he rang the doorbell.

The door opened wide and Aerith bound out, grabbing Cloud and pulling him into a hug, despite how much it hurt him to do so, "Cloud! Gaia, I was so worried about you! What happened? Why are you all bandaged up? Are you okay? Who's that?" She barraged him with questions and turned her attention to Zack, who offered her a friendly smile and a wave, "Zack Fair, at your service, miss. Oh, and, Cloudy, I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend?" Zack grinned at Cloud, who was still trying to answer all of Aerith's questions, "You sly dog, you." The older man smirked, elbowing the blonde in the ribs, causing Cloud to groan out of pain, "Oww…Zaaackk…"

"Oh, oops, sorry, chocobo head." Zack grinned sheepishly and ran his fingers through his dark spikes.

"Hn, Cloud, you're back. Did you bring the groceries?" Sephiroth suddenly appeared behind Aerith in the doorway, "Shiva, Cloud, what happened to you?" the silver haired man's eyes widened when he saw that Cloud was bandaged and in pain.

"Well, Mr. Fair, thank you for taking care of Cloud for us. I'm sure he will tell us _everything_ that happened when he **get's his butt inside**." Aerith said, hinting to Cloud that he'd better get his sorry ass in the house and spill it.

"Eh, don't mention it. Cloudy and I are friends, right, kid?" Zack asked and ruffled Cloud's hair for what seemed to be the fiftieth time that night, "Yeah…We're friends." Cloud said and smiled softly, "I'll see you around?" Zack called after Cloud when he hobbled into the house and plopped on the couch. The blonde looked up to see an expectant Zack standing in the doorway and nodded, "Yeah, see ya, Zack." He said and smiled when Zack waved and ran off after saying goodbye to Aerith and Sephiroth.

The door shut and Cloud could hear Zack's bike rev up and drive away as Aerith and Sephiroth stared him down.

"Alright, Cloud. Spill it."

--

Cloud had spent almost the whole night telling Aerith and Sephiroth about the punks that attacked him, about waking up in the Junon Hospital, and all about Zack Fair.

He sighed heavily as he trudged painfully down the hall towards his bedroom to go to sleep, but stopped in his tracks about halfway down the hall when he got to the study. The door was cracked open an inch or two and he could hear Sephiroth talking on what he supposed was a phone, for he couldn't hear anyone other than the silver haired man in the room.

Cloud peered through the small crack and saw Sephiroth pacing back and forth, telephone in hand, whispering in a, what seemed to be, angry tone.

"Yes…Yes, I am aware of the situation…" The older man whispered, while still pacing around the room.

"No, he doesn't know yet…He's only left the house once since he got here…Yes…Yes, of course, I'll talk to him about it…Zackary Fair? What about him…? Yes…" Sephiroth continued to pace agitatedly, getting himself tangled up in the phone cord, but not seeming to care.

Cloud's brows furrowed as he strained to hear the conversation going on between Sephiroth and whoever it was on the other end, _Is he talking about _me_? I wonder what he's talking about…And why is he talking about Zack? Shit! _

The blonde inwardly cursed as he realized that the silver haired man had hung up and was now making his way towards the door that Cloud was crouched in front of.

Cloud didn't even have time to get away from the door, which suddenly opened and slammed right into his face.

"OW! DAMMIT!!" he screamed out as he fell on his back, bringing his hands to his face to cover his now bleeding nose. "Cloud?" He opened up his eyes that were squeezed shut at the mention of his name and winced from the pain in his face. "Cloud, what the hell were you doing?" Sephiroth's eyes went wide with anger and shock as he bent down and observed the blonde's bleeding nose.

"Oowwww…!" Cloud could only manage a moan of pain and squeezed his eyes shut again, as Sephiroth gently poked and prodded at his most likely broken nose and cheekbone. _I guess this is what I get for eavesdropping…_He thought bitterly, cursing himself for being so nosey and stupid.  
The older man above him sighed agitatedly and rose up from his crouching position and called out halfway down the hall, "Aerith, could you help us out here?" and headed for the bathroom to get bandages.

Aerith padded down the hallway and gasped when she saw Cloud on the hardwood floor, blood running out his nose and down his chin, "Cloud, what happened?!" her eyes went wide with shock as she fell down to her knees and began inspecting the blonde, just as Sephiroth had done a moment ago.

"Uhh…" He looked away from the brunette's emerald green eyes that were oddly similar to Sephiroth's, even though she was adopted.

"_Well, I just decided to eavesdrop on your adoptive father and I got hit in the face with the door when he caught me." _Didn't sound right, so he just moaned, pretending to be in more pain than he actually was so he didn't have to answer any questions.

"Oh, Cloud…" Aerith sighed and shook her head, "You're always getting yourself into trouble." She giggled and continued to examine the aching blonde in front of her.

"I found some bandages in the bathroom; Aerith, you can finish up here, can't you?" Sephiroth sauntered back to where Cloud was sitting, the blonde's eyes still clenched together with pain, and handed the young girl the gauze, bandages, and other items to be used in fixing Cloud's nose.

"Finish this all up in the bathroom. I don't want your blood all over my clean floor." The older man almost glared at Cloud as he walked by, back into his study.

"…Come on, Cloud, we can talk while I'm fixing you up." Aerith gazed into his azure eyes intently, telling him to "spill it" as soon as they were out of Sephiroth's earshot.

Cloud nodded slowly, as to not cause more pain to himself and fumbled around, trying to stand up, but took Aerith's hand when she offered to help him up off the hard floor.

The blonde stumbled around a little until he got his balance back and wandered down the hall to the bathroom, where Aerith sat him down on the toilet seat lid.

They sat in a comfortable silence as the brunette wet a wash cloth in the sink to wipe the now drying blood off Cloud's face.

There was another brief silence while Aerith cleaned Cloud's face before she decided to speak up, "So…Are you going to tell me what happened?" Aerith was always motherly; her calm and loving personality made her seem like one, at least.

Cloud averted his eyes from her gaze and winced when she touched a sensitive spot on the bridge of his nose, "…Nothing…Nothing happened, Aerith." He lied, and tried to smile to cover it up.

But Aerith saw straight through his act, "You're a terrible liar, and you always were, Cloud Strife." Her face was stern and her hands were on her hips in that "you're busted, kid, so just give up" kind of way. Cloud sensed that she wasn't falling for it and sighed, "Ok, I just heard Seph talking to someone in his study, so I just…Decided to you know-," The blonde started off, but was interrupted, "Spy?" Aerith finished the sentence, "I prefer the term 'investigate'." Cloud joked and smiled sheepishly, but the smile almost automatically fell when he saw Aerith's face; she was pissed.

"Cloud _Strife_!" She yelled, narrowing her eyes, "What came over you to make you think it was alright to snoop around in other people's business?" She bent in front of him, her hands still on her hips.

_Shit, Aerith can be just as scary as Sephiroth when she wants to!!_ The blonde's eyes went wide with fear. Cloud backed up as far as he could against the back of the toilet (**A/N:** I have no idea what that big box thingy that's attached to the toilet is called. XD) when Aerith moved closer and closer, her eyes squinting and her foot tapping impatiently.

What came next shocked every bit of Cloud; it was…_Unexpected_…To say the least.

Aerith's hands came up to the back of Cloud's head, grabbing his blonde spikes, and pulled him up, crashing her lips onto his.

Cloud's eyes went wide with shock (and also pain, his nose was still broken, after all, and it didn't help that Aerith was crushing her own, unbroken one into his) as the brunette's lips caressed his own, until he pushed her off him, a little more forceful than necessary.

The blonde breathed in ragged breaths, taking in all that just happened, "Aerith…Wh-What the _hell_ was **THAT**?!" he jumped up off the toilet lid, completely forgetting the pain in his face from his still broken nose.

"I thought I made it clear that we were just friends! What part of that do you not understand, Aerith?!" he cried, throwing his arms around in the air to add emphasis.

Aerith just stood in front of him, her head hung low, but then looked back up to him with tears pooling in her glowing, emerald green eyes, "I-I'm sorry, Cloud…I don't know what came over me…" She whispered, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than she was Cloud, "I'm so sorry…" she said again, her voice breaking.

Suddenly she turned on her heel and ran out of the room, leaving Cloud to clean the bathroom, his face, and his _mind_, for that matter, up.

…_The hell was that all about?_ He thought as he looked in the large mirror, observing the damage on his nose and cheekbone. _I still don't know what held me back…Aerith's a nice girl; a pretty one, too, so what in the name of Shiva stopped me from kissing her?_ He questioned himself and sighed as he realized he's probably going to have to go to the hospital for the second time that week to get his nose checked out again.

_Hey, Zack, you up for another ride to Junon?_

--

Mwahaha. Chapter three rocked your socks, did it not? :3

Whoa, dudes, you must love this story, because after I posted chapter two, I had 524+ hits, but, now, I all of a sudden have 850+ hits. For all you simpletons out there, that means that this story got almost 300 hits in just two days. OO

I don't know about you, but I think that's insane.

**INSANELY AWESOME**, that is. 8D

Another thing you guys should know is **THIS STORY IS NOT BASED OFF OF THE FFVII COMPILATION STORYLINE**. Not one bit!!

I mean, come _on_! Just look at this stuff:

-Aerith is Sephiroth's daughter

-Cloud is living with Sephiroth in his home. –Gasp-AND THEY AREN'T KILLING EACH OTHER!! OO;

-Cloud and Sephiroth are **RELATED**.

-Neither Zack nor Cloud are in SOLDIER and probably **WON'T BE**!

-Sephiroth/Lucrecia

-SEPHIROTH/LUCRECIA

-**SEPHIROTH/LUCRECIA**, FOR PETE'S SAKE!!

So, now you realize this story is in no way, shape, or form the FFVII storyline.

Just clearing that up, y'all. Sheesh.

Thanks for reading and please review! Reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :3


	5. Pressure

I am spoiling you guys so much with these updates, you know that, right

I am spoiling you guys so much with these updates, you know that, right? XD Mehh, I guess I have no choice in the matter, do I? I might get pelted with eating utensils again…-Shudders- Yeesh…

Oh, and also, I'm like…Super sick. –OHNOES. D8-

Seriously, it's hard to even move around without tossing my cookies everywhere, so if I sit down at my computer, **BAM**! New chapter, cause I'm not moving from that spot unless it's completely necessary.

So, don't be mad if I end up dying before I can finish the story, because, the truth would be that I _died_ for _you_.

…

Ha, melodramatic-ness. XD

**SuicidalImbecile**- Aww D: He isn't gay _yet_, you mean. "Me? Gongaga." LMAO. Yeah, Aerith is totally desperate in this story…You'll see…You'll seeee ;D

**Brunette S Angel**- Thanks! I tried to make him sorta like myself. Except he has a penis. O.o;

**d0rkgoddess**- Aw, rats, foiled again. DX Dammit, you're one smart cookie; either that or you've read way too many fanfictions (-Cough- Like me–Cough-). And, bah, I'm making Aerith seem like some kind of horny school girl in all my chapters. XD

**Leon and Cloud's Kitty**- All I have to say to that is, well, thank you, and umm…ROFL.

Bishi beating? That's epic. XD Kudos to you for coming up with that. LOL.

-GASP- I love Flapjack. 'Nuff said.

But, anyways, I love you guys to death, you know that, right? Every single one of you who reads, reviews, alerts, or all three; you're all great and I hold you all near and dear to my heart. My soul purpose on this website is to serve you, so, with that said, on with the new chapter, my loves. –Blows kisses-

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

Now, while you're reading this lovely chapter, I'll be puking my face off.

Enjoy. 8D

**Chapter Four- Pressure**

"Dammit, this hurts…" Cloud breathed, poking at his bruising nose, "Guess I'm gonna miss out on another night's sleep…" He sighed heavily and hung his head low as he leaned over to pick up the telephone on his desk, intending to call Zack, but then pulled his hand back; he just couldn't do it.

_But, if I don't call him, how the hell am I going to deal with this pain until morning? _He thought, squeezing his eyes shut as a wave of pain shot through his face, _Isn't it, you know…__**bad **__to have a broken nose and not treat it immediately? _Cloud wondered, opening his eyes back up again.

There was no way in hell he was going to wait until morning, but, he didn't really have a choice. Either he asked Zack to take him back to the hospital, or wait until the next day and have to skip school, and he wouldn't have that, even though he'd probably have to miss school either way.

_I guess I __**have **__to call Zack…_He thought, going back to pick up the phone again.

Sephiroth was too tired to drive him to the Junon Hospital at ten thirty at night and neither Cloud nor Aerith even had their driving permits yet, so his only option was Zack. Not that he didn't want to spend more time with the other boy, he just didn't think it was…Well, _right_, if that made any sense.

Fortunately, Zack had told Cloud his phone number during their bike ride back to Gongaga, and Cloud, having a photographic memory, had the digits forever etched into his brain.

The older teen had told him, "If you ever need _anything_, just call" and then smiled that infamous smile, which sounded suspiciously like flirting to Cloud, but he just let it slide as being friendly. Just like the rest of the suspicious comments Zack had said to Cloud, such as calling him "a cutie", "a looker", and "too adorable". He really did feel bad about calling Zack at ten thirty at night just to use his bike; it felt sort of like he was using the other.

His intentions to call Zack, however, disappeared when he heard someone on the other end already. Cloud was just about to hang up the phone, not wanting to intrude on someone else in the house's conversation (**A/N:** Too late for that, Cloudy-boy. XD), but stopped when he heard his name.

"…And then I just leaned over and, well…I kissed him…"

_Aerith?_ Cloud's brows furrowed in thought and covered the phone with his palm so no one could hear him breathing on the other end. _What is she doing up? Who is she talking to? I really need to stop snooping around like this…_

"_Wow, really? Gaia, Aerith, I never knew you had any guts!"_ A feminine voice responded on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, me neither, Tifa. Do you think…Do you think he likes me…?" Aerith said slowly, her voice getting quiet.

_T-TIFA?! How does Aerith know Tifa? _Cloud's eyes widened at the mention of his childhood crush's name.

"_Hmm…I dunno, girlie, maybe. It didn't seem that he even knew you when he lived back here in Nibelheim…He never mentioned you or anything—Hey, why do you even like him anyways?" _Tifa answered in a comforting tone.

"Well, he's nice, funny, and, well…He's cute, you know…" Aerith sounded embarrassed and giggled at the last part.

_Aerith thinks I'm cute? Well, that's three people: Her, Zack, and my mom…Hn…_Cloud smiled and blushed at the thought of Zack calling him "a cutie" the night before.

_No, no, no! __**Aerith**__ thinks you're cute! Aerith, __**not**__ Zack!_ His smile faded and he slammed his head against the desk, causing the two girls to stop talking.

"…What was that?" Aerith asked, pausing for a moment.

"_I dunno, I thought it was you."_

"No…It wasn't…"

"_Ah, whatever, anyways…"_

_Whew, I never thought I'd say this, but thanks, Tifa. _Cloud silently sighed in relief in his mind.

"_Ehh, I think he's kind of annoying. He used to have a crush on me and would follow me __**everywhere**__. Ugh, he was so…So weird and CREEPY! This one time he actually followed me into the girl's bathroom at school! Sheesh..." _Tifa sighed, sounding annoyed.

_I take that "thanks, Tifa" back. _

"Well, I don't…I think he's amazing…And, apparently, so does Zackary Fair…" Aerith said quietly and sadly.

_Aww that's nice—Wait. Zack? Huh? _

"_Just give him some time, girlie, he'll come to his senses and realize that he is __**madly**__ in love with ya."_ Tifa said, comforting her even if what she was saying might not have been true; what all best friends do best.

"Yeah, thanks, Tifa…I don't think he likes me, though…That's not what the Planet is saying, at least. Like I told you earlier, the Planet already told me who he's going to fall in love with, and it isn't me, remember?" Aerith said, sounding hurt.

Aerith was a Cetra, which meant she could communicate with the Planet, and the Planet was **always** right, and if it had told Aerith who Cloud was destined to be with, that person **WILL** be the love of his life, no matter what.

His destiny was already set.

Cloud mentally cursed himself for not "tuning in" to the conversation earlier, _Just my luck…Argh, who is it that I fall in love with?!_ (**A/N:** I know who! 8D)

His brows furrowed, concentrating on thinking of every girl he ever had a crush on, which wasn't more than three; most of his childhood he'd spent chasing after Tifa, so he hardly ever thought about liking anyone other than her.

Then his mind came to one other person; a particular sexy, raven haired man who just might have saved his life.

_Oh __**FUCK**__ no!!_ He shook his head violently and shouted in his mind, his cheeks flaring with heat as he immediately erased the thought from his mind, pretending he never even thought about it.

"_Well, okay, Aerith, if you say so. But if that blonde haired bastard ever hurts you in any way, you just tell me; I'll come right over there to Gongaga and pound his pretty face in!"_ Tifa threatened, her voice rising a little.

Cloud moved back from the phone, gulping at the thought of Tifa "pounding his pretty face in" and shuddered, then put his ear back to the phone.

Aerith laughed softly, "No, I don't think that will be necessary, but thank you, Tifa." The brunette said, sounding just a bit cheered up.

"_Hey, I should probably get to bed before my dad finds out I'm still awake. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"_

"Yeah, talk to you later, Tifa, bye."

"_Buh-bye, and, Aerith, don't let this 'Cloud thing' bother you too much, alright? He's just a guy, after all."_

"Yeah, okay. Night, Teef."

"_Night-night."_ Tifa said, and then hung up the phone with a "click", the dial tone following soon after.

"But he's not just a guy…" Aerith whispered, the phone still in her hand, unaware of her crush still on the other end of the phone. She sighed sadly and set the phone down on the base in the living room to let it charge.

The blonde sat in silence for a moment, _I'm sorry, Aerith…I really am…_Cloud thought sadly, waiting a moment, just in case, before he started dialing Zack's number.

_Riiing…Riiing…Riiing…_

_Oh, come on, Zack; don't tell me you're asleep…_

"…_Hunh…?"_ A voice came from the other end, sounding muffled and tired; Zack's face was probably shoved into his pillow, with him still being half asleep.

"Umm…Zack?" Cloud asked quietly, trying not to wake up Sephiroth and Aerith, who Cloud had seen go back into her room and shut the door to go to sleep.

" _Nyeahh…,"_ A loud yawn was heard on Zack's end, _"…Cloudy…? S'at you…?" _Zack asked, sounding like he just woke up, which he probably did, Cloud assumed.

"Uhh…Yeah, it's me, Zack...I'm sorry for calling you so late, did I wake you up?" Cloud asked, feeling bad that he might have woken the other up, _How long was I listening to Aerith and Tifa on the phone, anyways?_ He thought, looking over at the alarm clock on the floor by his bed and squinted, _Whoa…It's eleven twenty…Gaia, girls sure can talk…_

"_Yeah, kinda…,"_ Zack replied,_ "But it's no problem, Cloudy. What's up?"_ He added quickly so that Cloud didn't feel sorry about waking him.

"Oh, okay, that's good—Not me waking you up, but, umm—You wanna go out somewhere?" Cloud asked, stumbling over his words while trying not to think about that newly found "being destined to fall in love with Zack" thought of his.

"…_What…? Where? Why?"_ Zack asked, skipping from one question to another over- excitedly. _Wasn't he sleepy just a second ago? He sure does bounce back quickly…_Cloud thought and chuckled to himself.

"Well, umm… To the hospital?"

"…_The hospital…?"_

"…Yeah."

"…_Dare I ask why, chocobo-head?"_

"Umm…I'll explain on the way—If you can take me, that is." Cloud stuttered, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"_Oh, Gaia, are you having a baby?!"_

_What the hell!? Where did that come from?_

"…What? No, I—,"

"'_Cause if you are, I know how to deliver! But, you're a guy…,"_ There was a brief pause as Zack configured the 'situation',_ "Umm…Don't freak, but I think there might be a problem, Cloudy."_

"No, Zack, I'm not--,"

"_Wait, who's the father?"_ Zack gasped, _"If you have a boy, will you name him after his Uncle Zacky? Pleaassee, Clouddyyyyy? Please with a cherry on top--,"_

"ZACK!" The blonde whispered harsly.

"_Yesss, Spikey?"_

_Another nickname? Shiva help me…_

"One, I'M NOT PREGNANT. Two, can you _please_ just take me to the hospital? Please?" Cloud begged, growing tired of Zack's joking. _If he's joking, that is…Gaia, he sure is dense…_

"_Well, okay, sure, but are you sure you don't need me to-,"_

"No, Zack. Just no."

"_Alrighty then…Road trip, baby!!" _Zack shouted from the other end of the phone, causing Cloud to pull the phone away from his ear and squint from the sheer volume of the other's voice. _I'm surprised he hasn't woken up his parents yet…Gaia…_

Cloud sighed a little, "Okay…I'll meet you in front of my house in five minutes."

"_Mmkay, see ya in five, Spikey!" _

-Click-

Cloud laughed softly to himself and smiled, _What the hell is he on and where can I get me some?_

--

Ten minutes later, Cloud was sitting on the steps of the front porch, looking from left to right, wondering where his ride was, _Where the hell is that lunatic? He's late._

Suddenly, as if on cue, he heard the roar of the engine of Zack's motorcycle growing closer and closer until it screeched to a halt, a cloud of dirt flying up in front of the, now coughing, blonde.

Cloud stood up, coughing, and walked over to where Zack was sitting and grinning on his bike, "Hey, Cloudy. Fine night tonight, ain't it?" Zack asked standing up as well, handing Cloud a helmet similar to his own.

The blonde took the helmet and smiled a little, "Yeah…Sure is, Zack…,"he answered and was about to strap his helmet on, when Zack gasped, making him look up from where he was trying to adjust the helmet straps, "What is it?"

"By the Goddess…" he whispered and walked over to where Cloud was standing, and then stared down at the shorter boy, "What happened to your face, Cloudy? It wasn't like this when we left the hospital…" He said, his voice full of concern as he brushed a few blonde hairs out of Cloud's face and gently tilted the blonde's chin up, making Cloud blush uncontrollably and look away from Zack's azure blue eyes.

"…Who did this to you? Was it those same kids from earlier? I swear to the Goddess, I'm gonna beat the living shit out of them the next time I see them." he whispered threateningly as he leaned even closer to Cloud's face, their faces a mere inch apart, to take a better look the other's broken nose and bruised cheeks.

The blonde just stood there, a deep, crimson blush dusting his cheeks due to how close they now were, he could feel Zack's warm breath on his parted lips, just like Aerith's from the other night, only…

_Only better._ Cloud thought, and then widened his eyes at his thought.

In fact, they were so close, that if he had talked then, their lips probably would have brushed, and he just _couldn't_ have that…That would just cause too much tension and awkwardness between the two.

Cloud breathed out a ragged breath and pulled away from his friend before anything could happen. (**A/N:** Yes, I know, I hate me, too. XD)

_Not that anything __**would**__ happen!_ He scolded himself, shaking his head, "I told you, I'll tell you on our way there. Can we just go, please?"

"Yeah, sure, kid. Let's go!" Zack's infamous smile crept back onto his face as jumped back onto his bike, patting the seat behind him, signaling Cloud to sit down.

The blonde strapped his helmet on, and then just stared at the seat where he was supposed to be sitting in back of Zack, who was grinning that dopey grin again.

Cloud blushed yet again when he thought of having to, basically, hug Zack from behind for an hour straight. _Shiva, why do you hate me so?_

"Hellooo? Earth to chocobo-head! You gonna sit down or what?"

Cloud shook his head and walked slowly over to the bike and sat down, straddling the seat and just sat there. _Maybe Zack won't notice and I can just fall off on our way there! _The blonde thought, sitting still.

"Uhh, Cloudy, you gotta hold on or you're gonna fall off the back. Unless you want to sit up front again?"

_Dammit._

He couldn't sit up front, that's for sure; Zack holding him from behind was just as bad, if not worse.

"Oh, umm…No, I'll sit back here…" He said and paused again before slowly lifting his arms up from his side.

Zack waited patiently as Cloud hesitantly wrapped his lithe arms around Zack's torso, but jerked back when his hand accidently brushed the other's nipple, making the older man accidentally moan out loud softly.

"Oh, Gaia…Umm…I-I'm sorry…"Cloud gasped and his face went beet red as he yanked his arms back, embarrassed.

"N-Nahh, it's okay, Cloudy, let's just get going…"Zack smiled over his shoulder reassuringly, his cheeks were dusted with a pink blush, _Gaia, he's hot when he blushes—__**WHAT THE FUCK AM I THINKING**__?!_ Cloud mentally shouted at himself, his eyes going wide as soon as Zack turned back around, revving the engine.

"Umm…You still gotta hold on, Spikey…" The raven haired man said softly, as to not disturb Cloud's thinking.

"Oh, yeah…" Cloud reached forward, wrapping his arms around Zack's toned torso, this time _without_ accidentally turning the other on.

_This is going to be a __**long**__ night…_

--

"So, are ya gonna tell me what happened back there?" Zack asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had been between the two for the majority of the ride.

"What?!" Cloud asked, or rather _shouted_, a little too soon and a little too high pitched. _I thought he knew it was just an accident! I wouldn't touch him like that…Unless he wanted me to—No! Bad Cloud! Stop thinking about that, dammit!_ Cloud inwardly scolded himself.

"Are you gonna tell me about what happened to your face?" Zack asked again, this time more clear about what he meant.

"Oh…That…Umm…," Cloud was blushing for what seemed like the thousandth time that night, "I was umm…I was kinda…Spying--,"

"**My** Cloudy?! _Spying_?! Why, I never…," Zack said dramatically, briefly letting go of one of the handlebars to slap a hand over the spot where his heart was located in feign shock and hurt.

Cloud giggled, wait…_Giggled_…? The hell?

"Ahh, keep goin'." Zack laughed and waved his hand, telling the blonde behind him to continue telling his story.

"Umm…I just heard someone say my name, so I decided to listen outside the door…I heard your name, too, so I was just curious. Then the door slammed in my face before I could get away…" Cloud recalled, unconsciously squeezing his arms tighter around Zack's chest, making the older man smile, but then frown, "Wait, who was talking about me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in intrest.

"It was my mother's cousin Sephiroth…I don't know who he was on the phone with, but I am very sure that they mentioned you and I…"

"Hmm…Looks like we gotta mystery on our hands, Cloudy-boy!" Zack said enthusiastically and grinned.

Cloud smiled into Zack's back, where his undamaged cheek was resting.

"And just because you leaked some juicy info doesn't mean you're off the hook for spying, kid!" Zack called over his shoulder, still smiling brightly.

"And just what are you going to do about it, Zack Fair?" Cloud asked, in what seemed to be a _seductive_ tone.

_What the hell is WRONG with me lately?! _

"Oh, plenty of things, let me tell you that, Cloudy-boy." Zack responded, waggling his eyebrows, making Cloud's eyes and mouth widen.

"I'm just kiddin', Spike! Jeez, you need to lighten up, kid!" Zack laughed, "Hang on tight!" He shouted just before lifting the front wheel of the motorcycle off the ground in a wheelie, cheering at the top of his lungs, "YAAHOOOO!!"

Cloud held onto Zack for dear life, squeezing his chest into the other's back and screaming almost as loud as the man in front of him, "ZZZAAAACCCKKKK!!"

"Yes, honey?" Zack asked innocently after he dropped the back down onto two wheels.

Cloud laughed out loud, "I repeat, **you're a moron, Zack**." just like the night before, "Again, I take it as a compliment, chocobo-head."

And Cloud just smiled.

--

As soon as they got back to the hospital, Cloud jumped off the back of the bike and stretched as Zack did the same.

"Whew, it's about time we got here." Cloud said and yawned as he stretched his arm.

Zack scoffed then laughed, "Not like you would know how long it took; you feel asleep five minutes after I did that wheelie. I swear, you snore like a fucking Weapon."

Cloud narrowed his eyes in feign anger, "I do not! And Weapons don't snore!", pointing a finger at Zack, who raised his arms up in the air, "How would you even know?"

The blonde opened his mouth and then closed it, "How would I know which one?"

"Both."

"…"

"Exactly, chocobo-head. This just proves that Zacky is always right!" Zack pointed his thumb towards himself and smirked as he walked into the hospital, with Cloud following close behind him, "Yeah, well…" Cloud started, then just decided it would be best to just shut up.

When they got into the main lobby of the hospital, the receptionists immediately recognized the two from before, "Back with more injuries, I see, Mr. Strife." The nurse behind the front counter said, collecting charts in her small arms.

"Yeah, it's a busted nose this time." Zack said, wrapping his arm around Cloud's shoulders and pointed with his thumb at the blonde's nose, "I see…" The nurse said, "Well, come with me, I'll get a room for you to stay in until you can go home tomorrow night."

"Wait, tomorrow night? No, no, no, I have to get home before daybreak; I have my first day of school!" Cloud protested, getting worried about having to miss his first day at his new school.

"Oh, well, that nose isn't going to heal unless you stay here for a day or two. We still have to get X-rays done, and we can't do that until morning anyways, plus many other tests have to be done as well. I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here, Mr. Strife."

Cloud sighed in defeat; there was no way he was going to make it to school, "Ehh, it'll be okay, Cloudy-boy. I can get your assignments from your teachers; you and I have the same schedule, am I right?" Zack said, smiling down at the blonde.

"I'll be right back, I just have to find a room for you, Mr. Strife." The nurse smiled kindly and walked off into another room connected to the counter area.

The blonde waited until she was out of earshot before he looked away, "No…Can you, umm…" Cloud blushed, looking down at the ground and his shuffling feet, "No, can you just…"

"Stay here…With me…?" He slowly looked back up to meet happy, azure eyes and a huge grin plastered on the older man's face, "Well, sure, Cloudy, if that'll make you feel better!" He beamed and pulled on Cloud's shoulder, bringing the blonde closer to him.

"Okay, I found an available room…Room 514, on the seventh floor." The nurse came back up to them, smiling softly, handing Cloud a small paper with the room number on it so he didn't forget it. Cloud nodded and smiled in thanks, then walked towards the elevator with Zack trailing right behind him.

Once they got in the elevator Cloud sighed, and laid back against the wall, upset that he would have to make up for the day he would miss in school.

"You alright, Cloudy?" The blonde looked over to Zack who was smiling reassuringly, "Yeah…I'm fine…Just a little tired, is all." Cloud smiled a soft, weary smile back at the raven haired man, who in turn, smiled even brighter.

Zack really did love Cloud's rare, genuine smile; he'd only seen it once or twice, and when he did, it would just make him feel like nothing mattered in the world except him and that smile. And Cloud, of course.

After the smile faded off the blonde's face, Zack turned around, looking up into the camera that was focusing on them from the top right corner of the elevator. He smirked deviously and looked over to Cloud, making the blonde almost sick with worry over what the hell this idiot was about to do.

Zack turned around, his back facing the camera, then suddenly started fiddling with his belt and pants, making Cloud, who was watching his every move, break out into a sweat.

The raven haired man chuckled and snorted when he looked over at Cloud, who was blushing and sweating profusely at this point, _Oh, Gaia, please tell me he's not going to…_

Zack bent over and pulled down his trousers, shaking his ass and mooning the camera, causing whoever might have been watching it to most likely either laugh, choke on their midnight snack, or start blushing a beet red with their eyes as wide as basketballs, like the state Cloud was in at that moment.

The older man busted out laughing as he continued to shake his behind for the camera, then pulled up his pants when he heard the "ding!" of the elevator reaching the seventh floor, acting as if nothing happened.

Cloud just stood there, blushing, and watched as Zack walked out the elevator, grinning like the moron that he was.

"You comin'?" Zack stuck his hands in front of the elevator doors that were trying to close before Cloud could even move.

The blonde just nodded, his eyes still wide, and trudged weakly, his knees like Jell-O, out of the elevator that had just witnessed _everything_.

The two continued to walk in silence until they got to room 514 where they would be staying for the night; the very thought of it making Cloud's palms sweaty.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

--

"So, what movie do you want to watch? This sucky one on TNT, or _this_ sucky one on HBO?" Zack asked, flipping through the channels on the old-fashioned hospital television that was hanging from the ceiling in front of the bed that Cloud was laying on.

Cloud yawned and snuggled up in the covers of the small bed, "You choose…I think I'm just going to go to sleep…I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted…" Cloud said sleepily, closing his eyes, the cast on his nose itching his cheeks.

Zack yawned right after, stretching his arms above his head, "Yeah, me too…After all, I _was_ asleep before some broken-nosed blonde called me and disturbed my slumber." Zack said in a fake accusatory voice.

"Yeah, well…" Cloud yawned again; he didn't even have the strength to make a good comeback!

"Hn, well, I'll see ya in the morning, kid." Zack said as he got up to turn the light off and sat back down at his spot in the uncomfortable chair next to the bed.

"G'night, Cloudy-boy." The older man reached over to ruffle Cloud's golden spikes then sat back down, resting his head in his hand and leaning his elbow on the arm of the chair.

"You know, Zack, you can…Umm…I mean…If you're uncomfortable there…Uhh…"Cloud was glad that the light was off so Zack couldn't see him blushing yet _again_, "Umm…You can…You know…"He stuttered, his body shaking.

"Nahh, I don't wanna have to take that bed away from ya, Cloudy. I'm fine over here, really." Zack said, smiling, even though Cloud couldn't see the smile, the blonde could feel it, (metaphorically) lighting up the room.

"Okay, just making sure…Good night, Zack." Cloud said and yawned again, a little disappointed that he didn't get to share—_Wait. No, stop right there, Strife._

"Night, Cloudy-boy."

_What the hell is happening to me?_

--

Well, there's chapter four for ya. 8D How did you like it?

Oh, I bet you hate me for that last part.

**OH SNAP, CLOUD BE REJECTED BY TEH ZACK.** lol

Dear Lord, I had _so much_ trouble starting this chapter; I know, it may not seem like it, but…Ugh, I don't even know. It was just a pain in the ass. D8

Oh, just so you guys know, from now on, I'm not only naming the chapters after songs that I _like_, but the songs are going to reflect on the chapter.

Like, for example, I have a chapter with that Scarlet hoe in it; I would name the chapter "_Barbie Is a Bitch_" because the song describes either an event or a character in it.

Get it?

Well, if you don't, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're retarded. –Shrugs-

One more thing –hides behind the trash can again-

Calm down!! Sheesh…

**I just want to let you know of my update schedule!** **From now on, I'm going to be updating on every Tuesday and Friday of every week.**

**If I don't update on these days, that means that something is happening in my life that is making me delay my working on this story, so yeah. Just letting y'all know.**

Meh, that's enough of my ramblings…Review and whatnot, please!

Believe it or not, your reviews and stuff fuel me to update faster. –Wink, wink-

No kidding. 8D

**P.S**_ Thanks to _**imEmoDealWithIt**_ for telling me what a toilet tank is! 8D_


	6. Wasted

Pardon my language you guys, but, holy _SHIT_! Good Lord, I finished chapter four at around four in the morning (Ironic, right?), then I posted it, and I went to sleep right afterwards. Then, when I woke up at around twelve thirty (I'm so lazy XD), I already had four more reviews! Damn, I love you guys! :3

**d0rkgoddess**- Don't worry, you're not alone, chica. LOL.

**PandaGaaraInsomniac9**- Yes, he certainly did. I know because I wrote it. :3 Oh, come on, you and I both know that Zack's the father in _some_ way, shape, or form. XD

**Brunette S Angel**-Well, for one thing, you have to remember that they've only known each other for a day; Zack isn't _THAT_ much of a slut. Ooo, great idea! But who would play Zack? No one can get his hair right. XD

**Leon and Cloud's Kitty**-Yes, yes she is. I normally like her, but in this story, I kinda wanted to show how much of a biatch she was when her and Cloud were kids. Ha, you're not alone with that stalking thing; it would become my new hobby if Zack were real XD. Thanks, and yeah, OOC Cloud is best, because if he isn't OOC, he's, well…An asshole. / LOL

**Also, thank you to my new readers who reviewed and welcome to my nerd kingdom! 8D**

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

Thank you very much for the hits, reviews, and alerts guys! Every single one of them cheer me up when I'm having a bad day, or not feeling well, and just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Enjoy! 8D

**Chapter Five- Wasted**

Early the next morning, Cloud stirred in his sleep, kicking the sheets until they bunched up around his thin, pale ankles.

"…_you're too cute…"_

Beads of sweat trailed down his temples as the scenes from the night before played over and over in his head. Zack's face kept re-appearing in Cloud's mind; his smile, his eyes, everything

"…_who did this to you…"_

He whimpered softly, heat gathering at his cheeks as he squinted his eyes even tighter together and sweat matted his blonde spikes to his face.

"…_Hey, Cloudy-boy…"_

_Stop calling me that._

"…_Cloudy…"_

_Stop it…_

"…_Cloudyyy…"_

The nickname the blonde's mother and Zack had given him echoed repeatedly in his mind, like a pinwheel, it never stopped circling. Cloud sniveled quietly, lost in his nightmare, unable to escape, no matter how hard he fought to wake up.

_Please…_

"…_I love you, Cloudy…"_

"_**STOP IT!!**_" Cloud lurched forward, despite the pain it caused him, since his body was still sore from the beating the night before. So far, the pain medication had been keeping the pain away, but since he hadn't taken one of the pills for a whole night, he was in a lot more pain. There were more pains this time, though; there was his nose, his ribs, and a few other areas from the night before, but he also felt two new pains.

His head felt like he had just slammed it on a cinderblock, had been hit by a huge, two ton truck, or had eaten fifteen Sno-Cones without stopping (**A/N: **NEVER, EVER ATTEMPT THAT!!** IT BURNS D8.**)

But there was another pain that was much more than all three put together; his heart. It was racing, faster than the metaphorical two ton truck was moving at when it collided with his head, pounded harder than his head had hit the concrete cinderblock, and burned worse than the metaphorical brain freeze the Sno-Cone had caused him.

He was in pure agony.

"…Ow…Gaia, Cloudy, your head may look soft and fluffy, but it's as hard as rock! Owie…" Cloud whipped his head around and felt another blinding pain in his head and reached up to touch his head, where a small bump was forming.

He turned around after feeling his now bruising forehead to see a certain raven haired man, stumbling backwards with his hands to his head, "OWWW!! _Shit_, Cloudy! What do you have against me today?!" Zack fell backwards after knocking heads with the blonde for the second time in the past five minutes, "That's the last time I try to wake you up when you look like you're having a nightmare!" He whined, rubbing his head, "You looked…Really scared…Scared me, too, so I tried to wake you up, but you just kept squirming around like a baby chocobo or something…Gaia, Cloudy…"

"…Sorry, Zack, I didn't know you were there…," Cloud was a little shocked that Zack was trying to protect him, from…Well, _himself_. He breathed a ragged breath, his head and heart still pounding with intense pain, "And…Could you stop calling me that?"

"Stop calling you what, Cloudy?"

"That."

"'Cloudy'?" Zack asked, scratching his head, wondering why the younger man in front of him was all of a sudden denying his affection; or at least, that's how he pictured it. He always _was_ a bit melodramatic, after all.

"Yes, that."

"Well…Why, Cloudy--," Zack got up from his spot on the chair, or what was his bed the night before, and moved over to sit next to Cloud on the rather stiff mattress of the hospital bed, staring intensely into the blonde's shiny blue eyes.

"Don't—just…Just don't call me that." Cloud stuttered, his own baby blue eyes fixating on the sky blue ones that had been watching him from just a foot above him. Zack stared at Cloud with somber azure eyes for a few moments more in silence, then nodded his head sadly, "Well, okay, Cloudy—Err…," He sighed softly, "_Cloud_." He said slowly and made the quotation marks by bending his fingers in the air, adding emphasis to the name.

Cloud frowned and shook his head, feeling a little guilty for taking something so seemingly precious away from the raven haired man, "You can still call me by those other ridiculous and demeaning nicknames you gave me." Zack pouted and crossed his arms over his muscular chest, then looked over at Cloud in feign annoyance, "But 'Cloudy' and 'Cloudy-boy' were my favorites!" The older man whined, sticking out his bottom lip, "Why, oh _why_, can't I call you 'Cloudy' anymore?" He cried out, faking an over-dramatic sniffle and forced tiny tears to his eyes. The sad thing was, Cloud almost, _almost_, gave in, just because Zack looked far too adorable to say no to.

_Oh, Gaia, not these damnable thoughts again…_Cloud mentally slapped himself and sighed as he felt heat rush to his face again, "Just because, Zack…" The blonde said sadly, looking away from Zack's puppy-dog face, _Shiva, his puppy-dog face is even worse than Aerith's…_, "And that puppy-dog act won't work on me." Cloud looked away, blushing, as Zack kept on making the face, "Who said I was acting? Pwease teww meee, Cwwoouudd…Zacky wants to know why Cwoudy won't wet him caww him 'Cwoudy' no mowe…" Zack whined in a childish voice and grabbed Cloud's hands, pretending to beg while getting off the bed and knelt down on his knees.

_Gaia, this is too cute…NO. No it's not. It's disgusting. Like dead puppies. Yeah…Dead puppies aren't cute…Unless they look like Zack—DAMMIT, STRIFE, PULL IT TOGETHER._ Cloud mentally scolded himself, and sighed, shaking his head in defeat, "Okay, fine…" Cloud gave in, massaging his temples in mock agitation.

_I'm such a pansy…_He thought, squeezing his eyes shut; he could feel a headache coming on. _I sure hope I can make it through telling him about my mom and dad without breaking down like some…Some pathetic __**wimp**__._

Zack cheered excitedly, yelling out a loud, "SCORE!" while balling up his hand into a fist and threw it into the air, declaring victory over the blonde in front of him, who was currently rolling his eyes. The older man finished the routine called his "Victory Dance", which could have been mistaken for a seizure of some sort, and jumped up in front of the hospital bed, then plopped face first in the space next to Cloud's head.

He grabbed one of the two pillows that Cloud had on the bed and shoved his face into it, inhaling Cloud's scent and released a muffled sigh of content.

Cloud rolled his eyes again, pulling his knees up to his chest for his elbows to rest on, "Are you finished?" he asked, raising a blonde eyebrow at the man beside him, who was trying, key word "_trying_", to get comfortable in the small amount of space the bed allowed him to lie in.

Zack was shuffling and kicking around restlessly, further messing up the sheets that were bunched around Cloud's left thigh and his ankles. He sighed and laid on his right side, resting his head in his right hand with his elbow placed on the pillow he stole from Cloud's side of the bed, then realized his legs were cold (**A/N: **Did I mention he was just in his undershirt and boxers? FANSERVICE, MATES!! 8D).

The older man growled and glared at the sheets; how dare they deny his legs the warmth they needed?! He sighed agitatedly when he tried to reach down to the sheets at the foot of the bed with his left arm, but couldn't reach them, "Screw it." And got off his right arm and leaned over, grabbing the sheets and drew them all the way up to his nose, throwing his head onto the pillow behind him, looking up at the seemingly annoyed blonde above him and giggled.

Cloud sighed and shook his head, but couldn't hide the smile that was forming on his face, "You're a moron, Zack…" The blonde said for the third time in less than two days. The older man smiled from under the covers, then ripped them off his face so he could show Cloud his puppy-dog face fully, "You're so mean to me…You won't let me call you Cloudy, you call me names, and you _hit _me!" Zack whined, feigning hurt again.

"Are you going to shut up so I can tell you the story?"

"Yes, massuh." Zack said in a mock-slave accent, then mumbled something under his breath along the lines of, "big, fat, chocobo-headed meanie", and when he received an impatient look and "arm crossing" of the blonde above him, he covered his face back up with the sheets, so just his eyes and the bridge of his nose showed over the covers.

Cloud sighed yet again and leaned back onto the wall behind them, while Zack looked up at him with big, blue eyes. When the blonde saw him out the corner of his eye, he thought he looked like a kid playing "peek-a-boo", for when Cloud turned his head to look at the childish man next him, the said man ducked the rest of his face that was still showing under the covers and he could hear a giggle come from under them. Cloud shook his head and said softly, "Well…I suppose I start by telling you why I'm even here…" and stopped when he heard the giggles stop as well.

The blonde looked down to see beautiful blue eyes staring back up at him, waiting patiently for the story to come.

"Umm…Well, I umm…I don't know where to begin…", He mumbled, brows furrowing in thought, "Tell me about baby Chocobo-Head." Zack whispered from under the sheets, trying to be polite and patient, despite how much he just wanted to hug and kiss Cloud right then and there.

He had to admit it; ever since he had found that helpless, fragile little blonde in Gongaga that day, he had developed a small crush on him. He was just so delicate…Like a flower that needed protecting from mean kids who wanted to do nothing more than stomp on the flower to destroy its frail petals.

"Okay…I was born an only child; my mother and father wanted more kids, so when I was about six, my mom got pregnant. I was finally going to have a little brother or sister; we were all so excited, my mother, father, and I…," Cloud started, smiling softly at the memory of him and his family, when they were happy, when they were whole, "But, my mom ended up losing the baby…," His smile faded, turning into a solemn frown, "…And then my mom never got a chance to have another baby when my father was murdered when I was seven years old…I couldn't protect him from the evil man who broke into our home…Our sanctuary and she couldn't, _wouldn't_, have a man other than my father's baby, so I'm forever an 'only'." Cloud said sadly, then looked over at Zack, who looked like he was almost in tears as well, then looked back to his hands, where he was idly fiddling with the content under his fingernails.

"After…After my father was gone…My mother just completely…Broke." The blonde said, not knowing any other way to describe what happened to his mother while tears pooled in his soft blue eyes, "She didn't really want to do anything…She stayed inside the house, the only reason she ever left was to go to her job to earn minimum wage as a waitress; she even made me do the shopping, which wasn't all that bad, I guess…My mother always told me that one day we would move out of Nibelheim to somewhere like Costa del Sol; anywhere to get away from the hell we were in…Telling me almost every day '_Tomorrow, __**Cloudy**__, I promise we're going to Costa del Sol_'…But that continued on for eight years…Then, she just stopped saying it. She had given up hope, but I hadn't. I still had hope that we could live the life we always wanted; the life that my mother **deserved**…" Cloud frowned sadly and looked back over to Zack, who was giving the blonde above him an empathetic look, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, "Then…Eight years later…Or rather, four days ago…," He looked down and away from Zack's expectant blue eyes, and after pausing for a few moments, he continued, "…Even after eight years of my mother being hopeless, I still hadn't given up hope…But, four days ago, I lost all hope that I had ever had…," Cloud paused again, the unshed tears that were stinging at his eyes were begging to be released, but he refused to cry just yet, "…My mother, she…When my father was killed, it broke her…But I stayed strong…I protected her…I always did, but…But I…," Zack looked up at the blonde, who looked like he was about to break, just like his mother did, any second now.

"…I tried so hard, but it wasn't…It wasn't enough...A few days ago, I was in the shower…When my mother caused a fire downstairs…She did it to herself…She had finally given up on life …She…My mom…She's…," The tears that were held in for several days spilled down Cloud's pale cheeks and left stains on the white sheet below him, "…I couldn't…I couldn't protect her…Even though I promised her that I…That I would always be her protector…," Tears flowed just as hard and fast down Zack's face as he sat up in the spot where he was sitting, trying to be strong for Cloud's sake, but just couldn't keep the tears from falling down, "…I promised her…But I couldn't keep my promise…To always protect her…I didn't protect her when she…She needed me there…I could have stopped her somehow…It's…My father is dead…My little brother or sister is dead…My mother is dead…My home is gone…I couldn't protect any of them…I'm not meant to help anyone…Not my family, not my friends, nobody…It's all my fault…Everything that once meant something to me is _gone_…All because of me…**It was all my **_**fault**_**!**," Cloud cried out, his body shaking uncontrollably with violent sobs, tears were running down his cheeks and they didn't seem like they were ever going to stop coming out.

Zack sat back and took Cloud's shoulders, turning the blonde around so that they faced each other; the older man also had his own tears falling down his cheeks, but quickly wiped them away, he had to be strong for Cloud right now, as Cloud was strong for his mother when she needed it.

"Cloud, look at me." Zack said sternly, giving a squeeze to the blonde's small shoulders and squeezed again when he got no response other than more shudders and cries, proclaiming that it was "all my fault".

"_Look at me._" He repeated, sounding even more serious and shook the younger boy's shoulders to try to get him to look up.

The small blonde below him slowly looked up, salty tears still streaming down his pale, tear-streaked cheeks, gazing up into darkened, serious blue eyes.

"Cloud, listen to me, none of that was at all your fault. There was nothing you could do about those situations; you were just a child when your mother had the miscarriage, you probably didn't even know what that was. You were only _seven _when your father was murdered, and if he hadn't bravely stood up for his family, you might not even be here with me right now. And your mother…That was not your fault, Cloud. You hear me? Nothing you could have done would have changed a thing. This is fate, Cloud, can't you see that? You never had any choice in the matter; it was not your fault, Cloud. Don't you get it…It wasn't your fault…" Zack stared into Cloud's clear blue eyes that were filled with regret and sadness; emotions that didn't suit his normally beautiful, happy eyes. The older man let a few more tears slip out before he grabbed the blonde and pulled him into a tight embrace, as if to say "I'm right here, I won't let you go" and let Cloud stain his tee shirt with tears.

Zack dug his face into Cloud's soft, blonde hair as he held him tightly to his chest and leaned back slowly, then gently kissed a pale, tear-stained cheek and whispered over and over into the blonde's ear, "It wasn't your fault…"

"_It wasn't your fault, Cloudy…"_

--

Dear Lord, that was a short chapter! LOL

Yeah, so I say screw the updating schedule I made; I really wasn't ever one to follow schedules, anyways. XD

By the way, this chapter is named after the song **"Wasted" by Cartel**. If you haven't heard and/or fallen in love with this song yet, you **MUST GO LISTEN.** Right now. It's an amazing song describing a few of the horrible things in life, but it's an up-beat song, so it's just…Agh, it's just simply amazing. Listen to that song; **THAT'S AN ORDER, MAGGOT.**

But, really, I just wanted this chapter to consist of Cloud's past and whatnot, and then Zack comforting him, of course. Actually, I made this chapter sort of for my brother, with him sort of being Cloud. He always swore to protect my mother and I; even wrote about it in the birthday card he sent me from where he was stationed at the time. Here's what it said:

_Sam, I hope you had a happy birthday! I'm sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate it with you and Mom this year, but I might be able to next year, if I ever get to leave this hellhole. I love and miss you both very much. I promise to always protect you, Mom, and the rest of my country no matter what. Happy birthday from not only your brother, but your protector. Love, Matt_

I don't know about you, but…That makes me cry every time I read it…

Sorry about the short chapter, but I already have half of chapter six done already; I just wanted this part of the story to have a chapter of its own because it's so drastic.

Thank you for reading and please review; your reviews always cheer me up.


	7. Must Be Dreaming

Beep-beep-beep…Beep-beep-beep…Beep-beep-beep

Dear Lord!! Guys, I am SO SO SO sorry for updating this so late!! It's just that school just started up and I'm super busy.):

Mehh, I don't think I'm gonna do any of those response things anymore; I don't think anybody read them anyways. XD It's not that I don't _want_ to respond to your messages; it's just that it's too much stuff to say before the story, if you get what I mean. So, yeah. Bleh.

Disclaimers are the anti-Christ. D8

**DISCLAIMER: I, xAirashii, do not own, think I own, or even PRETEND that I own the characters and/or places in this story. I do this purely for entertainment and do not get profit from this, other than my happiness that comes from writing. All characters belong to Square Enix©.**

Enjoy the chapter! 8D

**Chapter Six- Must Be Dreaming**

Cloud woke up on his side from his rest to the sound of his cell phone ringing on the table near the bed. The blonde's eyes fluttered open to small slits and the first thing he saw was the window; there was no light coming it, which meant it was late at night. The ringing continued and started to annoy him. Still, he didn't bother to roll over and answer the phone, since he was still weary from all the tests that were done on him that day; also from when he bawled his eyes out about his past to Zack.

_Zack…! He…He kissed…Oh, Gaia…_Cloud's eyes went wide as his mind raced with words and images that occurred earlier that day,_ He kissed me…! Zack kiss—Zack __**kissed**__ me!!_ His cheeks were burning with a red tint as he remembered everything that happened, but his thoughts were interrupted by an all too familiar voice coming from behind him where the table was.

"Don't worry, kid, I'll get it. You just stay in bed."

Cloud froze a little; who could be calling him?

The blonde heard Zack pick up the cell phone and click a button, "Hello?"

"_Hello…Cloud?"_ A deep voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Nah, this is Zack. Who is this?"

"_Hello, Zackary, this is Sephiroth."_ There was a short pause, _"Well, where is Cloud?"_

"Hey, Seph! Oh, chocobo-head's in bed right now, can I help you with something?"

Cloud mentally slapped his hand to his forehead in annoyance and disbelief, _Yes, Zack, make him think that you and I…Err…Never mind…_

There was a pause and Sephiroth cleared his throat on the other end, _"Yes, well…Where are you? Cloud's been missing all last night and today; everyone has been out looking for him. Where could you possibly be?"_

"Oh, we're at the Junon Hospital!" Zack said in his normally cheery voice.

"_Well, what in the name of Shiva are you doing—Oh…That…"_

"You're damn right '_oh_'! He said you slammed a door in his face!" Zack said, sounding almost angry, "I've got a bone to pick with you! How dare you mess up his beautiful face?" Zack yelled, throwing his arms around wildly in the air.

"_He was __**spying**__ on me while I was on the phone, Zackary. Did he forget to tell you that?"_ Sephiroth asked, his voice lacking any emotion as always.

"Yes, he did tell me that, and I will talk to him about that later, but right now, he's _recovering_ from what you did! Just because he was curious doesn't mean you have to go slam a door in his face!" Zack cried.

"_Well, I'm coming up there to get him, whether he likes it or not. I'll be there in about three or four hours, since traffic is so bad, so be ready when I get there."_

"Sure, whatever, but you and I are going to have a talk alone once you get here." Zack said, sounding almost parental, which made Cloud laugh to himself inside his mind, and also made him feel, well…_Loved._

"_Goodbye, Zackary."_

"Later, Seph." Zack replied, still frowning, as he clicked the red "END" button and closed the phone, hanging up on the silver-haired man. He sighed heavily and turned around to face Cloud's small form on the bed and smiled softly.

"Seph's gonna be here in a few hours to crash our party…But you just relax until he gets here, kid." Zack whispered, thinking Cloud was asleep, even though he wasn't. The blonde shuddered from the cold, forgetting that he wasn't under the blankets anymore.

Zack frowned as he leaned down and placed his hand on Cloud's freezing cold, pale arm. His eyes widened at how cold he was and looked around and bent down slowly, lifting one knee onto the mattress and waited to see if the blonde would move.

Cloud's eyes clamped shut when he felt the mattress sink in a little beside him, but then felt the sinking stop.

After a few seconds, the black haired man continued and lifted his other leg onto the bed and lay down, then paused again, making sure the blonde didn't "wake up" and catch him. After waiting a little while longer, Zack slowly leaned down and picked up the sheets, then pulled them up around the two and frowned when he realized that Cloud was still shivering a little.

He slowly lifted his right arm, and then put it back down, fearing the blonde would wake up when he stirred. Zack waited some more, then lifted his arm again, slowly moving it over to where the younger man was laying right beside him. He stopped when his arm was just above where the blonde was laying, close enough to feel the lack of heat radiating off of his pale skin.

Zack breathed in and out, _He's gonna kill me if he catches me doing this…_He winced as he pictured Cloud waking up and kicking him where the "sun don't shine". Still, he kept moving his arm, and wrapped it gently around Cloud's small, shivering form, _Gaia, he's freezing!_ Zack thought and slowly tightened his grip on the blonde's body, pulling Cloud closer to himself so that Zack's chin was resting on the top of Cloud's head.

Zack breathed in deeply and breathed out slowly, enjoying the moment, and whispered so that only Cloud could just barely hear "I only wish we could do this when you were awake…"

_Me, too, Zack…_

--

A few hours later, Cloud awoke from his sleep in a very comfortable state, _Everything's so…So warm and inviting…I never want to leave._ He left his eyes closed for a few more minutes, listening to what he thought was the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall across the room.

_Bu-Bump…Bu-Bump…Bu-Bump…Bu-Bump…Bu-Bump…_

His blonde brows furrowed when he realized it was too close to be the clock and slowly let his eyes open into tiny blue slits. _What is that?_ The blonde questioned to himself, opening his eyes just a fraction wider. He didn't want to wake up, though, so he just disregarded the mysterious ticking sound that was near his ear as he sat in the comfortable warmth that was surrounding his small, fragile body, "Go on back to sleep, Cloud…Your x-rays are still being done…You just need to rest for today, alright?" A familiar voice spoke from behind him.

_Zack…_

Cloud couldn't speak; all he could do was just sit there in the soft, warm spot in the arms of his friend, which really wasn't all that bad in his book. Zack hummed a soothing tune softly behind him, pressing his face into Cloud's soft, blonde hair and breathed in his scent.

He smelled like some sort of mixture of powder, flowers, and sunshine. The best way to describe it without sounding like a complete fool would be to say Cloud smelled of…Innocence. Sweet, flowery, powdery, sunshiny innocence.

It nearly drove Zack insane as he breathed in some more, humming another calm, quiet melody, slowly rocking back and forth, lulling the blonde in his strong arms back to sleep, _You deserve some rest, Cloudy…From what all you've been through, you deserve…You deserve so much better…_Zack frowned and thought sadly as he continued to soothe the younger boy next to him, and as soon as he knew Cloud was back to sleep, pressed his warm lips to the top of his blonde head.

_So much better than this…_

--

The nurse turned away from the small window in the wooden door of the room and walked briskly down the long, sterilized hallway of the west wing of the hospital and stopped when she saw one of her interns coming out the X-ray room on the left side of the hallway, "Oh, hello, Yuffie, do you have the x-rays for Mr. Strife completed yet?" She asked, cradling the multiple patient charts in her pale, lithe arms.

"Almost. The picture still has to develop for about an hour or so." The short intern responded, with dark bags under her eyes from working long hospital hours night after night, "Oh, okay, thank you Yuffie. I would have done them myself, but I'm having some problems with home and I've been a bit busy. Want to meet Cissnei and me for lunch in the cafeteria later on?" The tall, blonde nurse said softly and smiled at the black haired intern named Yuffie.

"I understand; we all have off days every once in a while, no?" Yuffie giggled and smiled goofily at the blonde nurse, "Sure, Elena, but the last time I ate this place's food I nearly tossed my cookies all over that tall, dark and handsome intern; you know the one with the spiky black hair and sky blue eyes? Oy, I'm drooling just thinking about 'im!" Yuffie declared, running her thin nails through her short, dark hair nervously.

"Yes, yes, Yuffie, I know which one you're talking about. But, I don't think he's the one for you, dear." Elena replied, covering her mouth to stifle a chuckle when Yuffie put on her best angry-pout face and placed her hands on her hips in mock aggravation, "What?! Why not?! I'm hot, aren't I?" Yuffie demanded, motioning to her "assets" multiple times during the sentence.

"Yes, you're very pretty, but so is that blonde that you're getting that x-ray for…Cloud Strife." The blonde said and giggled a little when Yuffie's jaw dropped down, "You…You mean…? Z-Zack…And…? Wow, from what I've seen with him and those millions of girls always latched onto him like leeches, I never woulda thought he swings that way!" The black haired girl almost shouted with one hand on her hip and the other hanging limply at her side.

The blonde pursed her lips, remembering the scene of Cloud and Zack snuggling on the hospital bed earlier, "Me either, but whenever they're together…I don't know…I'm not surprised, I guess." Elena said, her hand on her chin in thought then the intern cut in, "Ehh, I guess it's true what they say: All the hot guys are either gay, taken, or both, no?" Yuffie laughed and bent over to slap her knee, "I crack myself up!" She snorted hysterically and wiped laugh-tears from her eyes as she stood up straighter, "Speaking of men being gay, what happened to that ass rammer you used to call your boyfriend? If he's still around, I'll hunt 'im down and strangle the stupid outta him!" Yuffie exclaimed, emphasizing her actions by slamming her right fist into her left palm with a loud 'FWAP!'.

"What was that bastard's name again, anyways? Rico? Nemo? Chico? Ah, RENO, that was it. Augh, I'm gonna bash that asshole's face in the next time I see that flaming red head!" Yuffie screeched, emphasizing even more actions, dramatically flinging her limbs in every direction known to man.

"Oh, umm…I don't really want to talk about him, Yuffs…He did horrible things to me, and it hurts just to think about him…" Elena whispered, looking down to the floor.

Yuffie's eyes softened when she saw her friend in pain and decided that mentioning her ex-boyfriend wasn't a very good idea, "Okay, Laney…We won't talk about him anymore, alright? BUT! I'm still gonna—,"

"Umm…Yuffie, don't you have something to do?" The older, blonde nurse said, raising an eyebrow in question, hoping she could shoo away her pesky friend before she had time to start bawling.

"Ehehe, yeah, I guess I do. Well, I'll see ya at lunch, kay Laney?" Yuffie laughed nervously and then smiled, pulling Elena in by her shoulders into a side-ways hug, "Yes, I will see you then." The blonde replied once Yuffie released her from her grip. You **never** want to get caught in a Yuffie-hug; one of those babies could break three ribs in just one second of hugging. You should see her when she's been missing you, or she hasn't "seen you in forever"…Woo, you'll end up in the hospital for a week _at least_.

Elena laughed quietly to herself as she watched the young, energetic girl skip down the hallway merrily, then accidentally ran into one of the doctors, knocking equipment out of their arms. Yuffie pointed a finger and laughed at the doctor, calling him an "old timer" and sped off down the hallway, not even bothering to help the older doctor pick up the things he dropped.

_I would help him, but I have so much more to do right now…I'm sure he can handle himself…_Elena thought, turning around to head back down to the lobby to get more charts, even though she carried multiple of them already. There were so many charts in her arms that she could barely see over the top of them, making it hard to climb down the stairs without tripping.

_I swear to Gaia, if I ever see Reno…Oh, I just don't know what I would do…I should focus on other things…Anyway, I'm really not all that surprised about Zack and that blonde…I just hope Zack can still focus on his work and not just on the kid…_She thought as she treaded down the stairs to the lobby,_ Oh well…It really isn't any of my business, I suppose._

Elena finally reached the last of the stairs and gasped when she tripped and bumped into something strong and hard, causing her to fall backwards. She braced herself for the impact with the stairs she was bound to have.

The blonde nurse was puzzled when she didn't feel the sharp, hard—**painful**-- stairs beneath her. _Huh? Why am I not…Oh, I don't know…__**Unconscious**__?! _Elena thought and then slowly opened up her eyes; her jaw dropped as her chocolate brown eyes met with dark, coal colored eyes.

A tall, fit man in a doctor's coat stood above her, a few strands of raven black hair fell out of his short ponytail and in front of his face as Elena just sat/stood/leaned there in awe. _Damn, this man is hot…_

"Uhh…Umm…," The blonde stuttered, her arms still draped around the man's neck.

"Are you alright, miss?" The ridiculously-hot-raven-haired-man asked, pulling Elena back onto her feet, which didn't really help at all, for her knees were wobbly like Jell-O and she fell right back again with a quiet moan.

"Miss!" The man called out as he caught her yet again and frowned when the blonde closed her eyes as her head fell back limply against his arm

Several other nurses and doctors rushed to their aid as the dark-haired mystery man called out for help while trying to keep Elena conscious by talking to her and asking her questions.

"What is your name?" He shook the young nurse softly as he waited for the other workers to get a wheelchair and to get a room for Elena to be observed in. Elena furrowed her brows subconsciously as she tried to recall what was happening, and then the man above her asked her again, thinking she didn't hear him the first time.

"Miss, what is your name?"

Elena paused for a moment, "E-Elena…" She whispered, her throat suddenly burning and her head pounding relentlessly as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness in the strong, protective arms of the mysterious man.

--

What would seem to be several hours later, the blonde nurse awoke in a familiar hospital room; she had taken care of almost fifty patients in this room. _Room 214, floor 3, hallway B; if I go out this door, the staff workroom would be on the left and the bathroom would be two doors down on the right._ She recalled in her mind as she slowly pried open her eyes, even though they felt like they were glued together with sticky molasses. _How long was I asleep?_ Her eyes opened all the way and she slowly lifted up her head, only to lose all the strength in her neck, causing her head to flop ungracefully back down onto the pillow.

Elena breathed heavily as she felt a searing pain jolt through her skull, _Wh-What the hell?!_ Her eyes clamped shut to somehow ease the pain as she groaned quietly, digging her long, polished nails into the sheets of the hospital bed.

The pain that was pounding through her head suddenly stopped and she breathed out a ragged breath that she didn't even know she was holding in.

Her eyes opened her caramel colored eyes again as she released the scratchy sheets from her balled fists.

"You are awake?"

A stern, yet gentle voice came from her right suddenly, causing her to whip her head around to look at where the said voice was coming from.

There was _that man_.

The black haired one who caught her before she could fall on the staircase.

Scratch that.

The **extremely hot** black haired one who caught her before she could fall on the staircase. There, that's more like it.

"Hello, Elena. Are you feeling alright? You scared me a bit back there; you should tell me beforehand if you plan to lose consciousness, you know." He joked, his deep, dark eyes shined as he ever so slightly smiled at the blonde below him.

Elena just stared agape at this man, then decided she didn't want to look like a dope for not answering him, so she just nodded her head to show that she was alive (and _sane_ for that matter).

"Good, good." The man nodded his head, then frowned, "Though, I'm afraid I have some bad news…" His voice was deep with seriousness.

Elena finally gained her voice back as she cleared her throat, "…What…What do you mean? What's wrong with me?" She paused and her brow drew up in confusion, "And who _are_ you?" She questioned as she sat up and crossed her thin arms over her chest.

"My name is Tseng; I just transferred here from Midgar Hospital, but that really isn't important right now. What is important is your health." The man who called himself Tseng stopped, waiting for a reaction from the blonde nurse.

"Okay, Tseng…Doctor…Sir…Whatever I may call you--," Elena started but was cut off by the man beside her.

"Tseng. Tseng is just fine."

Elena paused for a moment, losing her train of thought, then blinked as she suddenly remembered, "…What's wrong with me…?"

Tseng diverted his eyes for a few seconds, seemingly interested with a dust bunny in the corner of the cold hospital room, and then flicked his dark, coal eyes back to Elena and waited a few moments longer before clearing his throat.

"Umm, Elena…" He paused again as the blonde before him searched his eyes for answers to his unfinished statement.

"What are you sorry for…? Tseng, you're scaring me…What is wrong with me?" Her voice became frantic as her whole body filled with worry.

"Nothing is really 'wrong', Elena, but I just don't think I'm the person who should be telling--,"

Elena scrunched her eyebrows together with irritation, "WOULD YOU JUST SPIT IT OUT?!"

"You're pregnant."

--

Ha! Finally some actual NORMAL couple!

**Tselena!! :D**

**WOO!**

Umm, yeah. XD

Well, I have some super-duper important news to report right here: school started up recently, so, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the updates are most likely going to be occurring less. ):

I'm definitely **not** going to give up on this story, after all, it's probably the only thing that keeps me sane, so you guys don't have to worry about me not updating at all.

I'm predicting one or _possibly_ two updates per week, but don't get your hopes up; it depends on how much schoolwork I have and what is happening in my personal life, so don't worry, mates. All will be well. (:

Thank you for all your support in me and this story so far, and I hope you leave a review to make me feel all happy-full. 8D


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